A two-year-old girl was the only survivor after a Sudan Airways plane crashed on a domestic flight in Africa's largest country just after dawn today. A total of 115 died, including a Briton.
A spokesman for the national flag carrier said toddler Lena Abdallah was rushed to hospital in Port Sudan and Sudanese TV said she was in good condition. It was not immediately clear whether her parents were on board.
The bodies of the dead were swiftly buried, in keeping with the Muslim tradition.
The pilot of the Boeing 737 reported a technical failure a few minutes after taking off at about 4 a.m. local time (2 a.m. Irish time) from the Red Sea town of Port Sudan in the northeast, heading towards Khartoum, state radio said.
The plane crashed just a few km away from Port Sudan airport as it returned in an attempt to land.
Residents of Port Sudan, fearing for their loved ones, rushed to the airport and gathered in nearby areas waiting for news. In Khartoum people made frantic checks to see if family or friends might have been on board.
A Sudan Airways employee said 104 passengers and 11 crew were killed. Identification efforts began shortly after the crash, but it was unclear how many bodies had been identified.
Sudan Airways spokesman Mohamed Osman said seven foreigners had been on the flight. A Briton was among those killed in the crash, according to state radio.
An official statement broadcast on state media listed Ethiopians and Chinese among the dead, alongside a provincial commissioner, the airforce commander for Port Sudan and a member of parliament. A passenger list included 17 children.