At least 18 killed after small plane crashes in remote part of South Sudan
Juba, Jan 29 (AP): A small plane crashed in a remote part of South Sudan, killing at least 18 people on Wednesday, an official said.
The flight, chartered by Chinese oil firm Greater Pioneer Operating Co., had 21 people on board, including two pilots, said Gatwech Bipal, the minister of information in the oil-rich Unity state, where the crash happened earlier on Wednesday.
The plane crashed while it was taking off near an oil field to head to the international airport in Juba, the South Sudanese capital, he said.
Local media reported that the plane was carrying oil workers.
The UN-affiliated Radio Miraya, citing the flight manifest, reported that the victims included mostly South Sudanese, one Indian and two Chinese nationals.
It wasn't immediately clear what caused the crash, and authorities had not yet revealed the identities of the victims.
South Sudan, which gained independence from Sudan in 2011, is a major oil producer in the region. The East African nation has been trying to ramp up oil production and exports amid persistent cash flow issues for the government.
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Will of people supreme, says Mahua Moitra after BJP's landslide victory in Bengal
Kolkata (PTI): A day after the Trinamool Congress faced a drubbing by the BJP in the West Bengal assembly elections, TMC MP Mohua Moitra on Tuesday said her party respects the mandate as the will of the people is supreme.
She also said that the party will continue the fight for a “secular country”.
In a post on X, Moitra said, “The will of the people is supreme. If Bengal wanted BJP, then Bengal has got BJP. We respect that.”
The BJP on Monday scripted history by winning 206 seats to secure more than a two-thirds majority in the West Bengal assembly polls, ending the TMC’s 15-year rule.
"We fought the good fight against unimaginable odds on an uneven pitch and for that I am proud of my leader & my party," Moitra said.
She said the TMC will continue to stand and fight for a secular country where the constitution, and "not brute majoritarianism, is the last word”.
