South Sudan Plane Crash Claims 20 Lives, Including Foreign Nationals

A tragic incident occurred on Wednesday in Unity State, South Sudan, when a small aircraft, transporting oil workers, crashed at the local airport. The flight was on its way to the capital, Juba, at the time of the accident, as reported by Gatwech Bipal, the information minister for Unity State. The passengers were identified as employees of the Greater Pioneer Operating Company (GPOC), which is a consortium involving the China National Petroleum Corporation and the state-run Nile Petroleum Corporation.

In this unfortunate incident, the death toll includes two nationals from China and one from India. Initially, reports indicated that 18 individuals had died, but Bipal later confirmed that two survivors succumbed to their injuries, bringing the total number of deaths to 20, with one remaining survivor. South Sudan has experienced a number of air crashes over the years, particularly in the backdrop of its ongoing conflicts. Notable past incidents include a September 2018 crash that killed at least 19 people and a 2015 disaster involving a Russian cargo plane that also resulted in multiple casualties shortly after takeoff from Juba.