Death toll in Sudan military plane crash rises to 46

Khartoum (Sudan), February 26 — The death toll from a Sudanese military plane crash in the city of Omdurman on the outskirts of the capital Khartoum has increased to at least 46 people, officials said.

The Antonov aircraft crashed late on Tuesday during takeoff from the Wadi Seidna military airport in northern Omdurman, part of greater Khartoum.

The Khartoum Media Office on Wednesday said the crash also injured 10 others. The initial death toll of 19 was provided by the health ministry, which said the aircraft crashed over a civilian house in the Karrari district in Omdurman.

Major-General Bahr Ahmed, a senior commander in Khartoum, was reportedly among the dead.

The Sudanese military, which has been at war with the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) since April 2023, released a statement confirming that military personnel and civilians had been killed and reporting that firefighting teams had managed to contain the blaze at the crash site.

The statement did not provide details on what had caused the crash, but military sources told Reuters news agency that it was most likely due to technical reasons.

Residents in northern Omdurman reported a loud explosion from the crash, which damaged several homes and caused power outages in surrounding neighbourhoods.

‘Further escalation’

The war in Sudan, which has killed tens of thousands, erupted after a rift emerged between army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan and RSF commander Mohamed Hamadan Daglo over the future structure of the government.

The army is currently making significant advances in central Sudan and Khartoum in its multi-front offensive against the RSF.

The plane crash came a day after the RSF claimed responsibility for downing a Russian-made Ilyushin plane in Nyala, the capital of South Darfur.

On Monday, United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned of “further escalation” after the RSF and its allies declared they would form a parallel government in areas under their control.

The UN says the conflict has uprooted more than 12 million people, causing the world’s largest hunger and displacement crises.