Breaking: Many Feared Dead in South Sudan Plane Crash [photos]

Dozens of people were feared dead after a passenger plane crashed at an airport in Wau, South Sudan, and then caught fire.

 

  44 passengers were reported to be  on board the plane belonging to South Supreme Airlines, officials at the carrier told journalists.

The South Sudanese National Courier newspaper carried photos showing the burned-out wreck of the plane on the tarmac at Wau Airport. Initial reports suggested as many as 44 people had died in the crash.

However, the manager of South Supreme Airlines told the National Courier there were no casualties.

He said all of the passengers were evacuated from the plane before it was destroyed by the fire.

An aid worker near the scene of the crash told Reuters: "No one died but there are a number of injured people right now."

"About 17 to 18 people injured in the incident were taken to hospital," James Dimo Deng, a journalist in Wau, told Reuters.
  

 

#WAU: No Casualties Reported in South Supreme Airlines Plane Crash. #SouthSudan #SSudan https://t.co/I2zfBwSPzC

— The National Courier (@Nation_Courier) March 20, 2017

#WAU: South Supreme Airlines Plane Burns in Wau. #SouthSudan #SSudan pic.twitter.com/HDV1bhKTNG

— The National Courier (@Nation_Courier) March 20, 2017

#WAU: Further Photos of South Supreme Airlines Plane Crash. 44 feared dead. #SouthSudan #SSudan pic.twitter.com/2VQzhZTyM9

— The National Courier (@Nation_Courier) March 20, 2017

#WAU: Photos of Burned Out South Supreme Airlines Plane Which Crashed in Wau Today. #SSudan #SouthSudan pic.twitter.com/LHk27r9v6m

— The National Courier (@Nation_Courier) March 20, 2017

Several feared dead in Wau plane crash https://t.co/MTfEJaP2Ez #SouthSudan pic.twitter.com/pLYMzHZkTT

— Eye Radio Juba (@EyeRadioJuba) March 20, 2017

Updates: 9 people reportedly pulled out from the debris alive; rushed to the hospital #SouthSudan Wau plane crash

— Eye Radio Juba (@EyeRadioJuba) March 20, 2017