6 dead after cargo plane crashes near Dubai

A cargo plane bound for Sudan crashed shortly after take-off from Sharjah International Airport in the United Arab Emirates, situated approximately 16 flight miles from Dubai International Airport. All six crew members died in the accident.

According to press agency AFP, the Boeing 707 went down in an unpopulated area near the runway. It initially took awhile to get clarity about the crew's fate but Reuters now reports all crew members died in the crash. A freight handler at Sharjah airport told the press agency the plane, which was leased by Sudan Airways, came down near the runway. "We tried to see the plane, but there was nothing left, it was all burnt out," he said. Sheik Khalid al-Qassimi, director of the Sharjah department of civil aviation, was quoted saying that the fires had been extinguished. "The place is contained. All the fires are extinguished," said al-Qassimi in an interview with the French Press Agency. "We are the picking up bits and pieces for the investigation." It is not known what caused the accident.