Nairobi, Khartoum  - Twenty-six people including a minister and other southern Sudanese politicians were killed when a Southern Sudan Air Connection plane crashed Friday in southern Sudan, al- Arabiya news channel reported.

The Minister for Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) Affairs Major General Dominic Dim Deng was among the dead, the report said.

A spokesman for flight authorities in Rumbek, southern Sudan, told Radio Miraya that the plane had crashed on landing and burst into flames. There were no survivors.

Shortly before the crash, the pilot had radioed to say they were encountering engine problems and requested permission to land in Rumbek. Radio contact with the tower broke off shortly afterwards. (dpa)