A small aircraft carrying oil workers crashed on Wednesday in South Sudan’s Unity State, killing 20 people, an official has confirmed.
The plane went down at the Unity oilfield airport while en route to the capital, Juba, according to Unity State’s Information Minister, Gatwech Bipal.
Bipal stated that the passengers were employees of the Greater Pioneer Operating Company (GPOC), a consortium that includes China National Petroleum Corporation and state-owned Nile Petroleum Corporation.
Among the casualties were two Chinese nationals and one Indian. Initially, media reports placed the death toll at 18, but Bipal later confirmed that two survivors had succumbed to their injuries, leaving just one survivor.
The cause of the crash remains unclear. South Sudan has experienced several air disasters in recent years. In September 2018, a small aircraft carrying passengers from Juba to Yirol crashed, killing at least 19 people. Similarly, in 2015, a Russian-built cargo plane crashed shortly after takeoff from Juba’s airport, killing dozens.
