Plane bursts into flames in Sudan; 200 aboard, 120 dead

A Sudan Airways plane burst into flames after landing at Khartoum airport on Tuesday and 120 of the 217 passengers died, the head of the airport's medical services said.

"There are 120 bodies and 97 survivors," Major-General Mohamed Osman Mahjoub told Reuters.

Official and state media said immediately after the crash that about half the 203 passengers aboard the Airbus A310 had been killed in the crash around 9 p.m. But several hours later officials began reporting a lower toll.

One flight attendant said the crew had evacuated the passengers from the plane.

"Preliminary reports indicate that about half the 203 passengers on board are dead," a television presenter said. There were 14 crew members on board but their fate was not immediately known.

203 passengers and 14 crew members were reported on board the Airbus A310 aircraft.

A Sudanese airliner burst into flames after careering off the runway on landing at Khartoum airport on Tuesday, killing 100 passengers, Al Jazeera television reported.

Sudanese TV says at least 100 people were killed in plane crash at Khartoum airport. A plane carrying about 200 passengers veered off a runway late Tuesday amid thunderstorms and burst into flames.

An Associated Press reporter at the scene said the plane arriving from Amman, Jordan apparently left the runway as it landed in Khartoum, the capital of Sudan.

The head of Sudanese police, Mohammad Najib, said bad weather "caused the plane to crash land, split into two and catch fire."

"We believe that most of the passengers were able to make it out and escape with their lives," said Najib, without disclosing further details on how they escaped.

But he stressed that officials could not say for sure how many were killed.

An Associated Press reporter at the scene says the plane apparently veered off a runway as it landed in Khartoum, and then burst into flames.

Ambulances and fire trucks were seen rushing to the scene after the accident Tuesday night.

The plane was flying from Amman, Jordan. It was not immediately clear what airline was involved.