Indian national among 20 dead in South Sudan air crash

A small aircraft carrying oil workers in South Sudan’s Unity State on Wednesday crashed killing 20 people. An official said, the plane crashed at the Unity oilfield airport in the  morning as it was heading to the capital Juba. Officials said the passengers were oil workers of the Greater Pioneer Operating Company (GPOC) a consortium that includes China National Petroleum Corporation and state-owned Nile Petroleum Corporation.The flight was operated by Light Air Services for Eagle Air and was en route to Juba.
Among the victims were two Chinese nationals and one Indian. The plane, reportedly destroyed, a consortium that includes China National Petroleum Corporation and Nile Petroleum Corporation. The cause of the crash remains unknown. South Sudan has seen multiple fatal air crashes in recent years, including a 2018 accident that killed 19 people and a 2015 cargo plane crash in Juba that resulted in dozens of fatalities.
Gatwech Bipal, Unity State’s information minister gave no more details on the circumstances that led to the crash. Media reports had initially put the death toll at 18 but Bipal told Reuters two survivors had later died. One person survived.South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir Mayardit has ordered an investigation into the plane crash.