DUBAI UAE
Six crew members have been killed in a cargo plane crash near Sharjah airport in the United Arab Emirates.
"A Sudanese cargo plane crashed two miles (three kilometers) from the Sharjah airport shortly after takeoff and there were no survivors among the six crew," the AFP news agency quoted Sharjah civil aviation director, Sheikh Khaled Al-Qassimi, as saying.
The Boeing 707, which belonged to Sudan's Azza Air, crashed while landing at the airport.
Rescuers flooded the scene as smoke billowed from the downed plane and officials at the airport declared the site an emergency zone.
The airport was closed to air traffic after the accident, but reopened early in the evening.
Sharjah one of seven emirates in the UAE federation and is near the tourism hub of Dubai.
Its airport, which was expanded in 2006, is the third largest in the UAE after those in Dubai and Abu Dhabi and is popular among low-cost passenger lines and air freight companies.
The Sudanese air fleet is outdated, and the government says spare parts are not available for the country's U.S.-made aircraft due to economic sanctions imposed by Washington.
The United States, which has placed Khartoum on a blacklist of countries supporting terrorism, says the sanctions do not prevent the delivery of spare parts for aircraft if they are requested.[/]
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