Military plane crashes in Sudan, killing at least 46 people

A military plane crash in Sudan killed at least 46 people, making it one of the deadliest air crashes in the northeastern African country in two decades.

The AP reported this, citing officials.

The death toll from a Sudanese military plane crash in the city of Omdurman has risen to at least 46, officials told the publication.

An Antonov plane crashed on Tuesday over a residential area in Omdurman, injuring at least 10 people, according to the government media agency. The Health Ministry said 19 people were killed.

The military said the plane crashed during takeoff from Wadi Saidna airbase north of Omdurman, a twin city of the capital Khartoum. The crash also damaged several houses in the Karrari district of Omdurman, the press service said.

The military had previously said that soldiers and civilians were killed in the plane crash, but did not give an exact number of victims. It was also not clear what caused the crash.

Local media reported that the plane was heading to the Red Sea city of Port Sudan, home to the military-backed government, when it crashed over the Al-Thawra neighborhood in the Karrari district. Local residents reported loud explosions that sent thick clouds of smoke and dust over Omdurman.

The Sudan Tribune reported that the plane was carrying senior military officers. The military has not confirmed this.

Plane crashes are common in Sudan, largely due to the country’s poor aviation safety record. In 2020, at least 16 people were killed when a military plane, a russian An-12, crashed in the western Darfur region.

Sudan has been in a state of civil war since 2023, when tensions between the military and the notorious Rapid Support Forces militia escalated into open fighting.

The fighting has devastated urban areas and been marked by atrocities, including mass rapes and ethnically motivated killings that the United Nations and international rights groups say amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity, particularly in the western Darfur region.

The war has intensified in recent months, with the military making steady advances against the RSF in Khartoum and other parts of the country. The Sudanese Armed Forces, which control most of Darfur, said on Monday it had shot down a military plane in Nyala, the capital of South Darfur province.