Cargo plane crashes at Khartoum airport, no casualties

KHARTOUM, Nov 8 (Reuters) A cargo plane crash landed and caught fire at Khartoum airport but no one was killed, civil aviation officials said today.

The Antonov 12 cargo plane belonging to the privately owned Juba Air Cargo company took off for the south Sudan capital of Juba but due to technical problems had to return to Khartoum, officials said.

''The plane landed outside the civilian airport close to the military airport,'' a Sudanese Civil Aviation official told Reuters.

''It is burnt but all the crew are well,'' he added.

Planes often crash in Sudan's crowded airports. Without roads in much of the country, much cargo travels by air. A massive humanitarian and United Nations and African Union peacekeeping operations in Sudan means traffic at airports has greatly increased in recent years.

Many of the planes in Sudan are old and maintenance is sometimes poor.

REUTERS GT ND1220