Sudan orders Antonov aircraft ban

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Emergency crews try to put out the flames following the crash

Sudan's president has ordered a ban on all Antonov and Ilyushin passenger and cargo aircraft following the latest crash near Khartoum, state media says.

President Omar al-Bashir also sacked the head of the country's Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) and ordered an investigation into recent crashes.

The four Russian crew on the plane were killed in Monday's crash.

This was Sudan's fourth fatal plane crash in just two months. The ban does not, however, apply to military planes.

Sudan's rebel groups often accuse the military of using Antonov planes to drop bombs on villages in war-zones.

Soviet-era aircraft are commonly used to transport goods and passengers in many African countries, as they are far cheaper than newer models.

Plane 'disintegrated'

The CAA's Abdel Rahim said the Russian cargo plane was heading for the South Sudanese capital Juba but crashed "less than one kilometre or so from the airport".

The plane, which was reported to be an Ilyushin 76, crashed shortly after take-off, officials said.

Witnesses at the crash site told the BBC's Amber Henshaw that the plane seemed to have crashed through power lines and skidded across a major road, before disintegrating on a patch of wasteland near an office block.

"It had a good run down the runway and it got airborne", one witness said.

"Then it started a left-hand turn and it looked like his wing stalled so the air was going over the wing not under it. There was an explosion and a huge plume of smoke."

Another witness added: "It had barely left the ground - maybe just 50ft in the air - and it veered suddenly to the left and it blew up into a fireball."

The cargo plane took off just before 0700 local time (0400 GMT), but then experienced a problem with one of its wings and crashed at the end of the runway, according to witnesses.

Our correspondent says there is little left of the plane, and the wreckage is scattered across a wide area.

Sudan has a poor reputation for air safety, especially on domestic flights.

About 30 people died earlier this month when a plane burst into flames after landing at Khartoum airport.