The crew safe and no-one on the ground was injured
MOGADISHU, July 16 (NNN-AGECIES) — A cargo plane carrying humanitarian food aid crashed at an airport in central Somalia but the crew members survived, officials said.
According to a statement by the US embassy in Somalia, it said the flight was part of efforts to “provide vitally important food aid” to Somalia.
“The accident occurred on the runway during roll-out after landing,” it said.
Aviation Safety Network, which monitors aircraft accidents, posted a photo showing parts of the Kenyan plane engulfed in flames.
Somalia officials said the plane that crashed in Beledweyne was with the United Nations, but a U.S. Embassy statement in the evening expressed regret for the loss of the food and the plane.
The statement said the flight was part of an effort to provide food aid from neighboring Djibouti, and it thanked the U.S. Embassy in that country for providing logistical support.
Sabrie Ahmed with the local administration in Beledweyne town said that the plane veered off the runway and crashed onto its belly. It was not clear what caused the plane to lose control.
Ali Jeite Osman, the governor of Hiran region, told reporters that a fire erupted in the plane after the crash but they could not extinguish it as the airport lacked firefighting apparatus.
The US Embassy statement said no one on the ground was injured.
The plane was delivering food aid for people displaced by heavy rains. — NNN-AGENCIES
