Cargo plane crashes in UAE, six dead

A Sudanese cargo plane crashed yesterday near Sharjah airport in the United Arab Emirates, killing all six crew members, Sharjah civil aviation director Khaled al-Qassimi said.

The plane went down in the desert, just missing a golf course and a densely-populated residential area, an AFP correspondent said.

"A Sudanese cargo plane crashed two miles (three kilometres) from the Sharjah airport shortly after take-off and there were no survivors among the six crew," Sheikh Khaled said, saying the Boeing 707 went down in the desert.

All six crew were Sudanese, Khartoum's consul general, Issam Awad Metwalli, said.

Metwalli said the aircraft, which belonged to Sudanese freight company Azzi, was en route to Khartoum. He said it was carrying 30 tonnes of cargo, well under its 40-tonne limit.

There was no indication of what caused the crash, in which the plane was said to have been totally destroyed, but the diplomat said "we have recovered the black boxes and their data will be analysed."

The desert crash site was fortuitous, as it was near a golf course and less than two kilometres from a densely settled residential zone.

An AFP journalist at the scene said all the brush was burnt and the sand blackened in an area of around 100 metres by 150 metres.

The airport was closed to air traffic after the accident, but reopened early in the evening.

The emirate of Sharjah lies hard by the Gulf federation's trade and leisure hub of Dubai.