Two Sudanese soldiers on the ground in Khartoum were killed Thursday when a Russian-made Antonov cargo plane crash-landed minutes after takeoff from the Sudanese capital, the state "SUNA" news agency reported. The plane rammed into a tank and five other military vehicles on a military airfield adjacent to the Khartoum international airport and immediately caught fire, the agency said. None of the plane's crew of four, three Russians and a Sudanese, were hurt in the crash or the subsequent blaze but were taken to a hospital for precautionary checkups, SUNA said. The report cited a press release by airport official Mohamed Hassan Taha al-Hajj as saying that the Antonov, belonging to Juba Air Cargo, carried a 12-ton cargo and a 7-hour fuel supply. The plane took off from Khartoum destined for Juba, the capital of Southern Sudan, but after two minutes, the pilot asked for permission to turn back and land again, Taha al-Hajj said. As it touched ground, the plane swerved off the runway and moved erratically before crashing into the military vehicles, the official added. Authorities said the accident is under investigation. Earlier reports Thursday had said there were no casualties in the accident. Smoke was seen rising from the airport, located in the center of Khartoum. The airport was not closed because of the fire. No other details were immediately available.
