The plane came down on the east bank of the White Nile River
A cargo plane has
crashed on take-off near the international airport in South Sudan's
capital Juba, with at least 25 people killed.
There are fears the death toll may climb. A presidential spokesman told journalists there were at least three survivors.
It is not yet known how many were killed on the plane, or on the ground.
The Antonov An-12 plane was heading to Paloch, Upper Nile State, and crashed 800m (half a mile) from the runway.
There
are conflicting reports on the number of casualties, with Reuters
quoting a police officer and a witness saying they had seen 41 bodies.
The AFP news agency quoted a Red Cross official who said 36 bodies had been collected and taken to hospital.
'No exact number'
Presidential
spokesman Ateny Wek Ateny said the plane was carrying 18 people,
including six crew members, and three of them - including a child - had
survived. He said the passengers were all from South Sudan.
He
suggested reports of a higher death toll could be down to some people
being killed on the ground, adding that he had not yet had confirmation
of this.
The
head of the Civil Aviation at Juba airport said emergency officials had
secured the site of the crash and were "in the stage of recovering
bodies and black box".
"We cannot give you the exact number," Stephen Warikozi added.
The crash left a tail fin and lumps of fuselage strewn in the vegetation close to the water
Mr Ateny said five of the six crew members were
Armenian, while the sixth member was Russian. Armenia's foreign ministry
has confirmed that five of its nationals were killed.
While it is
not yet clear what caused the crash, the presidential spokesman told a
news conference that it may have been down to engine failure.
Police
were seen pulling the bodies of men, women and children from the
wreckage of the plane, with debris and cargo strewn over a wide area
along a bank of the White Nile River.
'Landed near my door'
The plane struck a farming community on an island on the river.
A
man who saw the plane come down told AP he thought the plane might
crash into a market area, but the pilot seemed to divert it at the last
minute.
Another witness said he saw a child and elderly woman pulled out alive from the wreckage.
Meanwhile,
a local farmer has described the moment the plane started to go down,
telling AFP: "The sound was so loud... the plane started descending and
landed near my door."
"One of the tyres broke off and ran into the house - but thank God it did not injure anyone."
Mr Ateny said the plane was heading towards the Paloch oil fields in the north of the country.
Cargo planes to remote parts of South Sudan often carry passengers too.
The plane's first flight was in 1971, the
Aviation Safety Network reported. It was being operated by Allied Services Limited, a logistics company based in South Sudan, at the time of the crash.
However, the plane belonged to the Tajik company Asia Airways, Tajikistan's Transport Ministry told the Ozodagon news agency.
The Antonov State Company, which built the plane, is a Ukrainian aircraft manufacturing company.
Officials are investigating the wreckage
A photo of the An-12 plane posted on Facebook by
Allied Services Limited in October shows its registration number EY-406,
which was also visible on the wreck
Title : South Sudan plane crash: 'Dozens killed' near Juba airport
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