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Crashed cargo plane wasn’t allowed to carry passengers: South Sudan official

Responders pick through the wreckage of a cargo plane which crashed in the capital Juba, South Sudan Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2015. The cargo plane was taking off from the South Sudanese capital of Juba when it crashed along the banks of the Nile River, killing dozens according to witnesses and the government. (AP Photo/Jason Patinkin).
Responders pick through the wreckage of a cargo plane which crashed in the capital Juba, South Sudan Wednesday, Nov. 4, 2015. The cargo plane was taking off from the South Sudanese capital of Juba when it crashed along the banks of the Nile River, killing dozens according to witnesses and the government. (AP Photo/Jason Patinkin).

JUBA, South Sudan – The chief of South Sudan’s Civil Aviation Authority says a cargo plane that crashed Wednesday, killing at least 36 people, wasn’t authorized to carry passengers.

Stephen Warikozi told The Associated Press on Thursday that the captain of the Antonov AN-12 informed the control tower at Juba International Airport before taking off that he had 12 passengers and six crew members. Only one person, an infant, survived the crash. There were believed to be even more people aboard the flight than those cited by the captain.

Warikozi said the plane’s cargo capacity was 15.5 tons and that, according to the cargo manifest, the plane was carrying 15.5 tons of cargo.

The plane crashed near the Nile River soon after taking off. It had been bound for the Paloich oil fields.

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