A Sudanese minister and 30 other people were killed when their plane crashed on the way to Sudan’s war-torn South Kordofan state for an Eid al-Fitr celebration, Al Arabiya reported on Sunday.
Sudan's Minister of Guidance and Religious Endowments Ghazi al-Sadeq was among those killed.
Sudan's state news agency Suna reported the plane crashed "due to harsh weather conditions" in a mountainous area near Talodi, a small town some 650 kilometers (400 miles) southwest of the capital Khartoum.
AFP news agency cited Sudan Aviation Authority spokesman Abdelhafiz Abdelrahim as saying an explosion was heard aboard the plane.
Talodi has been a major battleground for fighting between the government and rebels of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement – North that began in June last year.
