KHARTOUM, Sudan — A Sudanese Airbus carrying 214 people veered off the runway in a thunderstorm and burst into flames late Tuesday, killing dozens unable to escape the inferno. Officials said more than 100 people fled the plane before it was engulfed by towering orange flames.
The Civil Aviation Authority confirmed that 103 passengers and all 11 crew members survived. But it said some other passengers may have gone home directly from the crash on the rain-soaked runway after crew members helped them through the emergency doors.
The death toll wasn’t immediately clear. Reports right after the crash said about 100 were killed, but officials later put the toll at dozens without being more precise. Deputy parliament speaker Mohammed al-Hassan al-Ameen said that “about 30 people” died, while police spokesman Mohammed Abdel Majid al-Tayeb said 23 bodies were brought to the morgue.
The flight originated in Damascus, Syria, with stops in Amman, Jordan, and Port Sudan. Most of the passengers were believed to be Sudanese, with some foreigners among them, Sudanese Ambassador John Ukec Lueth Ukec said in Washington.
Roaring flames dwarfed the Airbus A310’s shattered fuselage as firefighters sprayed water with little apparent effect, Sudanese TV footage showed. Reporters were kept away, but an Associated Press reporter heard several explosions after flames engulfed the aircraft.
A survivor told Sudanese TV said that the landing was “rough,” and there was a sharp impact several minutes later.
“The right wing was on fire,” said the passenger, who did not give his name. He said some people started opening the emergency exits. Soon, fire engulfed the plane, he said.
There was a thunderstorm and 20 mph winds at the time of the crash around 9 p.m. local time, said Elaine Yang, a meteorologist with the San Francisco-based Weather Underground, a private weather service.
The Associated Press reporter at the scene said the plane appeared to have left the runway as it landed at Khartoum International Airport.
Sudan has a poor aviation safety record. In May, a plane crash in a remote area of southern Sudan killed 24 people, including key members of the southern Sudanese government.
The Airbus A310 is a twin-engine, widebody plane used by a number of carriers around the world. Typically configured with about 220 seats, it is a shorter version of the popular A300.
An Airbus spokesman in Paris declined to comment on the crash.
