A Sudanese cargo plane carrying aid to Darfur crashed near the capital Khartoum on Thursday, killing all the crew - one Sudanese and six Russians, the operator said. The captain reported an emergency a few minutes before the Ilyushin-76 went off radar screens, Civil Aviation Authority director Abu Bakr Jaafar said. "He (the pilot) said there was something wrong with the fuel system ... A few minutes later it disappeared from the screens," he told Reuters. "Of course, it is too early to tell what is the cause," he added.

The crash took place at about 9 am local (0600 GMT) in the desert about 50 km (30 miles) from the capital, Fartak said.

Copyright Reuters, 2005