All six crewmen aboard a Sudanese military helicopter were killed when it crash-landed and burned in North Kordofan state on Friday, the army said. Fire broke out because of a “technical problem” aboard the Russian-made aircraft three minutes after takeoff from a base at El Obeid, the state capital, army spokesman Sawarmi Khaled Saad said.
The pilot crash-landed in a yard “but the fire destroyed the plane completely and all six crew were killed,” he said.
Saad said the chopper was carrying “military equipment” on a logistical mission. The official SUNA news agency reported that the aircraft was a helicopter gunship. El Obeid is a base for the Sudanese military but there is no known rebel activity in that immediate area.
