The number of fatalities after a Sudanese military plane crashed in the city of Omdurman has risen to 46, officials confirmed on Wednesday.
According to the military, the Antonov aircraft crashed on Tuesday evening while taking off from Wadi Sayidna air base, located north of Omdurman.
“We have recorded a number of martyrs and wounded among both military personnel and civilians. The injured have been treated, while fire crews have contained the fire at the crash site in the Al-Iskan area, Block 75,” the office of the military spokesperson said in a statement.
The crash which caused significant damage to several houses in the Karrari district of the city also left 10 people injured, the Khartoum Media Office reported.
The health ministry had initially reported 19 deaths but the number has increased to 46 including both military personnel and civilians.
Military sources, who spoke to Sudan Tribune, said the aircraft was carryon a number of officers, including high-ranking personnel, including Major General Bahr Ahmed Bahr, a commander in the Bahri military area, who died in the crash.
The sources also attributed the crash to a technical malfunction, saying it fell onto a house despite the pilot’s efforts to steer it towards an open area
Some of the victims’ bodies were transported to Nau Hospital in Omdurman, according to the health ministry.
Sudan has been engulfed in civil war since 2023, when tensions between the military and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces erupted into full-scale conflict.
The ongoing fighting has devastated cities and been marked by severe human rights violations, including mass rape and ethnically motivated killings, particularly in the Darfur region.
The United Nations and international rights organisations have classified the atrocities as war crimes and crimes against humanity.
