Aisha Dubaiwali

DUBAI - A Sudanese cargo plane crashed near Sharjah airport on Wednesday afternoon killing all six crew members on board, officials have told Maktoob Business.

The flight to Khartoum went down at around 3.30 p.m. shortly after takeoff from Sharjah International Airport, an important regional cargo hub, officials said.

The Boeing 707 Freighter, which belonged to Sudan's Azza Transport and leased to Sudan Airways, was destroyed in the crash, they said.

"There are no casualties on the ground. It had a crew of six and no one has been found. The plane is completely destroyed,” Sheikh Khalid al-Qasimi, director of Sharjah’s Department of Civil Aviation, told Maktoob Business.

The aircraft's blackbox has been found and the cause of the crash is being investigated, an airport spokesman said.

The affected runway was closed for around a hour and all departures and arrivals suspended, with eight flights diverted, officials said.

Two flights were diverted to Dubai airport, an airport spokesman told Maktoob Business.

Radio stations reported the plane crashed close to Sharjah Golf and Shooting Club off Emirates Road, but staff at the club said the plane happened quite far away. Pictures carried by news websites show the plane went down close to the airport.

Stations reported Emirates Road was at a standstill in the early evening.

Sharjah is one of seven emirates in the UAE federation that also includes trade and tourism hub Dubai and oil exporter Abu Dhabi.

The incident is the fourth crash at the airport. In 2004 a Kish Air flight crashed on approach to Sharjah airport killing 43 of its 46 occupants, which consisted of six crew and 40 passengers.

Sudan has a poor reputation for air safety, especially on domestic flights. In June 2008, a cargo plane crashed shortly after taking off from Khartoum airport, killing all four Russian crew. It was the fourth fatal air accident in Sudan in two months.

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Sad to know.

skull~dust

inna lillahe wa inna ilaihe ra'ajeon !!