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Air crash kills Sudanese minister Air crash kills Sudanese minister
(about 3 hours later)
South Sudan's defence minister has been killed along with 21 other people in a plane crash in the south, regional officials have told the BBC. South Sudan's defence minister has been killed along with at least 21 other people in a plane crash in the south.
Dominic Dim Deng was returning with a military delegation to the regional capital Juba from a political conference in the town of Wau. Dominic Dim Deng was returning with a military delegation to the regional capital, Juba, from a political conference in the town of Wau.
A presidential adviser was among the 19 passengers and three crew killed. A presidential adviser was among the passengers and crew members killed.
Reports suggest the plane had developed engine trouble and there were no reports of foul play. South Sudan's President Salva Kiir said engine trouble had caused the crash, about 400km (250 miles) west of Juba. He declared three days of mourning.
South Sudanese Deputy Prime Minister Riek Mashar told AFP news agency the plane had come down about 375km (220 miles) west of Juba. The BBC's Amber Henshaw in Sudan says the incident will bring back memories of the death of South Sudan's first leader, John Garang, who was killed in a helicopter crash three years ago.
He gave no reason for the crash but ruled out an attack, the agency said. His widow called his death an assassination, despite an official probe that blamed pilot error.
A spokesman for South Sudan's governing Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM), Deng Goc, said he believed bad weather had caused the crash. 'Shock'
'Engine trouble' Philip Yona Jambi, South Sudan's rural development minister, said that the pilot asked permission to make a crash landing in Rumbek after reporting engine trouble.
The United Nations has sent a helicopter to the crash area. "Unfortunately they couldn't make it to Rumbek - the plane just blew up and all passengers died," he told the BBC's Focus on Africa.
A UN-operated radio station which broadcasts locally says the pilot reported engine trouble just before the crash. He said passengers on board included Mr Deng and his wife, senior presidential adviser Justin Yak and his wife, and other senior military officials.
The pilot radioed a control tower in the city of Rumbek, requesting permission to land because one of the engines was having technical problems, it said, quoting an unidentified air operations official. Our correspondent says officials have arrived at the site of the crash and the United Nations has also sent a helicopter to the scene.
A few minutes later, the tower lost all contact with the plane, it added. Mr Kiir, who is also Sudan's vice-president, told journalists in Juba that it was a very sad day for South Sudan.
The South Sudanese presidential adviser killed in the crash was named by Reuters news agency as Justin Yak. He said that the control tower in Rumbek had lost all contact with the plane not long after the pilot had requested permission to land.
Three years ago, South Sudan President John Garang was killed in a helicopter crash. Mr Jambi said that the news had shocked many southern Sudanese.
An official enquiry said that was an accident. "People are very worried and those who have heard about it will suspect foul play because John Garang died in a crash and they still don't believe the results of the investigation," he said.
The region has had an autonomous government since the 2005 peace deal which ended decades of war with Khartoum. Mr Garang died not long after the region signed the 2005 peace deal which ended decades of war with Khartoum.