The president of South Sudan has ordered for the suspension of South Supreme Airlines operations.
This comes after a plane that belonged to South Supreme Airlines crashed in Piere in Jonglei state on Tuesday evening. Eyewitnesses told the media that 11 people who were on board all died.
The cause of the crash is yet to be established. The Director of Juba International Airport, Kur Kuol, told Abyei FM on Wednesday that an investigation team has been dispatched to where the incident happened.
In a statement issued on Wednesday, President Salva Kiir directed the ministry of Transport and Civil Aviation Authority to suspend the operation of South Supreme Airlines in the country.
“The decision is a temporary measure to deal with these avoidable air accidents before laws governing aviation are strengthened via legislative mean. This measure is necessary to ascertain airworthiness of the remaining South Supreme planes,” the statement reads partly.
In the statement, the president also sent his condolences to the bereaved families of the plane crash victims.
“The entire country stands in solidarity with you at this moment of tragedy,” he says. Such plane crashes are common in the country. In 2020, seven people died in a plane crash in Kemiru area in Juba.