A Cabinet minister was among 32 politicians, generals and others killed yesterday when a plane crashed on its way to Sudan’s war-torn South Kordofan state for the start of Muslim holidays, state media and an aviation official said.

Communication was normal, then an explosion was heard and the plane was destroyed

“All people on board were killed” as the aircraft flew in for a ceremony marking Eid, at the end of the Ramadan fasting month, said Abdelhafiz Abdelrahim, spokesman for the Sudan Aviation Authority.

The most senior official among the dead was Khartoum’s Guidance and Endowments Minister Ghazi Al-Saddiq, tasked with religious affairs, the official Suna news agency said.

It reported that 26 passengers and six crew were on board.

Speaking on official Radio Omdurman, Culture and Information Minister Ahmed Bilal Osman said the plane “crashed into a hill” because of bad weather, killing the entire delegation.

Mr Abdelrahim said the Antonov plane was landing at Talodi town at about 8 a.m. when something suddenly went wrong.

“Before landing, communication with the pilot was normal and the runway clear. Then an explosion was heard and the plane was destroyed,” he said.

Accidents are common among Sudan’s ageing fleet of aircraft, and Europe bans all Sudanese airlines for safety reasons.

At least 30 people died when a Sudan Airways jet burst into flames on landing in Khartoum in 2008.

Several small airline companies in Sudan use pilots from the former Soviet Union.

It was not immediately clear which firm operated yesterday’s ill-fated plane. Suna did not give the names or nationalities of the six crew who died.

The other victims included two top officials – Khartoum’s state minister for youth and sport, and the state minister of tourism, as well as the education minister for the Khartoum area, SUNA said.

Ten victims, including three generals, were from the security forces, it added.

Also killed was the chief of the small Justice political party, a correspondent for state television, three others identified as “media”, the head of Khartoum North municipality, a member of parliament, and other officials.

Although there have been no reports of major fighting around Talodi in recent weeks, the town has been a key battleground in the war that began in June 2011 between the government and ethnic rebels of the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N).

Rebel spokesman Arnu Ngutulu Lodi told AFP that his forces had nothing to do with the crash, which happened outside rebel territory.