The Sudan government on Sunday officially confirmed the death of Sudan's Minister of Guidance and Endowments Ghazi al-Sadiq in a plane crash in Taloudy town in South Kordofan State earlier in the day that claimed 31 lives.
“The plane was carrying a ministerial delegation, headed by a minister and 25 others who were accompanying him in addition to 5 crew members – all of them were killed after the plane crashed following its collision with a mountain at the area of Taloudy in South Kordofan State,” said Ahmed Bilal Osman, Sudan's Minister of Information, in a statement.
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This was confirmed by earlier remarks from Abdul-Hafez Abdul-Rahim, spokesperson of Sudan's Civil Aviation, that all the 31 passengers aboard the plane were killed in the incident.
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Osman's statement noted that the plane tried to land twice but failed before colliding with a mountain due to bad weather conditions.
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The statement pointed out that the delegation headed on Sunday morning to South Kordofan State to present congratulations of Eid Al-Fitr, the day that marks the end of the holy fasting month of Ramadan, to the people of the area and members of the Sudanese armed forces there.
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The region has been witnessing armed clashes between the Sudanese army and rebels of the Sudan People's Liberation Army ( SPLA)/northern sector.
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The statement did not mention that the plane was shot down by a military attack.
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The civil aviation's Abdul-Rahim have said earlier that the crashed plane, an Antinov, belonging to a civil aviation company, left Khartoum at 6:00 a.m. local time (0300 GMT).
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“The plane flew over Taloudy airport in South Kordofan. An explosion was heard inside the mountains surrounding the area,” he said.
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Sudan has seen several plane crashes in recent years.
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On June 20, 2012, a Sudanese military training aircraft crashed at the air base in Port-Sudan city in eastern the country, leaving its two-member crew killed.
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On December 30, 2011, six crew members were killed when a military helicopter crashed in the western region of Darfur.
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In 2008, at least 11 were killed in two cargo plane crashes in Sudan.