Fire Kills Dozens On Sudanese Jet

KHARTOUM, Sudan (AP) – Sudanese officials say dozens of people are feared dead after a fire gutted a Sudan Airways jetliner shortly after it landed at the Khartoum airport.

Sudanese state television initially reported as many as 100 people died, but a parliament official says the death toll is closer to “about 30.” The official gave no further details.

The head of Sudanese police says bad weather caused the Airbus A310 to “crash land, split into two and catch fire.” He said “most” of the passengers were able to make it out safely. But he stressed that officials could not yet say for sure how many people died.

The airport director says the plane had landed safely when one of the “engines exploded and the plane caught fire.”

More than 200 people were on the flight from Amman, Jordan.

(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)