116 die as jet crashes after take-off

A Sudanese airliner crashed shortly after taking off from Port Sudan airport early today, killing 105 passengers and 11 crew. Only a child survived, the Sudan News Agency reported.

The Boeing 737 was on an internal flight to the capital, Khartoum, when its captain reported he was in trouble, "but fate was quicker," the director of Sudan Airways, Ismail Zuwary said.

Salah Ali Ahmed, a Sudanese government spokesman, said the child was in a hospital and in good condition. He said the bodies of the dead were burned.

The plane crashed in an empty area about five miles from Port Sudan airport on the Red Sea. Mr Ahmed ruled out bad weather as a cause of the crash.