JUBA, South Sudan — The lone adult survivor of a South Sudan plane crash said Saturday that he cradled a stranger’s baby in his arms as doomed passengers shouted the aircraft was going down, and only he and the child lived through the disaster.
Wuor Arop also told The Associated Press from his hospital bed, where he was recovering with limbs broken in six places and a head injury, that the plane carried more than 30 unauthorized passengers.
The Soviet-built Antonov AN-12 had taken off from South Sudan’s capital, Juba, on Thursday and was headed for the Paloich oil fields with a crew of six when it crashed, according to South Sudan’s Civil Aviation Authority. Thirty-seven people died, officials said.
The other survivor is 13-month-old Nyalou Thong, who is not related to Arop. She has a broken leg and a cut on her forehead.
Shortly after takeoff other passengers started shouting that the plane was crashing, said Arop.
“The baby I grabbed, (she) was near me,” he said. “Plus my friend who was near me, he stepped on me so I grabbed him.”
He said he remembers his friend calling out his name just before impact, his last memory before waking up in a hospital.
Arop said he paid 500 South Sudanese pounds, less than 30 dollars at Juba street exchange rates, to an unofficial “dealmaker” for a seat on the cargo flight. He said no ticket was issued and the fee was split between the pilot and the broker.
He was one of nine people besides the crew who had seats on the plane, while the other passengers sat amid the cargo, which included sandals, crackers, cans of beer, and medicine, he said.
Arop said he was flying to Paloich to return to his job with the Danish Refugee Council after visiting his family in Juba.
There are no commercial passenger flights to Paloich and roads are impassable due to South Sudan’s civil war and the rainy season. The U.N. Humanitarian Air Service, which transports aid workers around this mostly road-less nation, also flies to Paloich.
