Russian Cargo Plane Crashes in Sudan

A Russian cargo plane crashed in war-ravaged southern Sudan, killing all four people onboard, Russian media reported Wednesday.
NTV television said that all four crewmen were Russian citizens. But Russia's ITAR-Tass news agency said there has been no independent confirmation of the victims' identities, noting that they could be citizens of any of the Russian-speaking former Soviet republics.

The Russian An-12 plane, based in Khartoum, had taken off from an airport in the Southern Kordofan region on Tuesday evening and was headed to Juba in southern Sudan when radio contact was lost, ITAR-Tass said.

Citing the Sudanese Media-Center, ITAR-Tass reported that the plane was owned by the private aviation company Sariya.

Numerous pilots from Russia, Ukraine and other ex-Soviet republics work in Africa.

Fonte: Associated Press - 06/10/2004