Nineteen people were killed on Sunday when a small plane crashed into a lake in the centre of South Sudan , while four survived, a regional official told AFP.
Regional information minister for the Eastern Lakes state Taban Abel Aguek said a plane , carrying 23 people , had crashed in the central town of Yirol as it came into land .
“The number of people we have confirmed dead is 19 people and four people survived , ” said Abel, adding that two children were among the survivors as was an Italian citizen .
He said the Anglican Bishop of Yirol , Simon Adut , was confirmed among the dead .
The pilot and co - pilot, a staff member with the International Committee of the Red Cross , a Ugandan who runs a private clinic in Yirol , a government official and two army officers were also confirmed dead .
“The whole town is in shock , the shops are closed , some people have taken their relatives for burial . It is a commercial plane that crashed , ” Abel told AFP .
“When the plane was landing the weather was foggy and this was not a good situation for plane landing. ”
The UN broadcaster Radio Miraya posted a picture on its Twitter account of the twisted wreckage of the plane submerged in water .
Overloading of planes is common in South Sudan , and this was believed to have contributed to the crash of a Soviet- era Antonov plane upon takeoff in Juba in 2015 which left 36 people dead .
In 2017 , 37 people had a miraculous escape after their plane hit a fire truck on a runway in northwestern Wau before bursting into flames .
South Sudan was plunged into civil war in December 2013 , when President Salva Kiir accused his former deputy Riek Machar of planning a coup , leaving tens of thousands dead and millions displaced .
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