Child killed in South Sudan when plane strikes house

RENK COUNTY, South Sudan – A 5-year-old girl has been killed in South Sudan when a World Food Program-contracted aircraft struck a house while attempting to land in bad weather in the capital, Juba.

The U.N. agency has expressed its condolences to the family and says it will provide “all possible support to them in this terrible tragedy.” Four other people, including two children, were injured in Tuesday’s accident.

A statement says the cargo aircraft had been contracted by WFP to airdrop food in civil war-torn South Sudan. The plane hit a tree before clipping the metal roof of a single-story house as it tried to land in heavy rain.

The plane then made an emergency landing at Entebbe International Airport in neighbouring Uganda.

WFP says an investigation is underway.