All 31 people aboard an airplane carrying an ‘Sudanese cabinet minister’ to Sudan's war-torn South Kordofan state for a function marking the Muslim Eid holiday were killed on Sunday, an aviation official said.
The presidency of the republic eulogises the Minister of Guidance (Ghazi Al- Saddiq) and others martyred in a plane crash this morning in Talodi," the official SUNA news agency said in a brief dispatch.
He said the plane was landing in Talodi town at about 8:00 am (0500 GMT) when "an explosion was heard and the plane was destroyed."
Abdelrahim could not immediately provide further details.
The official SUNA news agency issued a brief alert, which said only: "A plane with 31 passengers, including ministers, crashed near Talodi."
Talodi has been a key battleground in the war, which began in June last year between the government and ethnic rebels of the Sudan People's Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N).
There was no immediate word on what caused the explosion aboard the plane.