According to news reports, a Russian-made Antonov AN-12 plane has crashed in the Sudanese province of West Darfur today.
The plane had been delivering aid to the area, where there have been deadly clashes between Sudan‘s ethnic groups in recent days.
It was reported that the aircraft crashed almost immediately after take-off, just five kilometers (3.1 miles) from the airport of the the state capital city of El Geneina.
All 18 people on board – seven crew members, three judges and eight civilians, four of them children, were killed, according to the sources.
The cause of the Antonov AN-12 aircraft’s crash was not immediately clear and an investigation was under way, local officials say.
