Did you know at least 82 people died in different plane crashes since South Sudan’s independence

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Author: Garang Abraham – Managing Editor

At least eighty-two people have died in different plane crashes since South Sudan succeeded from Sudan nine years ago, according to Aviation Safety Network.  

As per the data obtained by 211 Check, the biggest incident that claimed 41 lives happened near Juba International Airport, Central Equatoria State on November 4, 2015, when Allied Services Limited – lsf Asia Airways crashed while taking off.   

The second incident which claimed numerous lives occurred on September 9, 2018 in Lakes State, near Yirol airstrip, when South West Aviation, lsf Slav-Air crashed while landing – a heartbreaking occurrence that left 20 people dead including a bishop.   

Other crashes that killed several people include the recent South Supreme Airlines Pieri and last year’s South West Aviation incidences, where 10 and 7 people died respectively.  

The above data also shows that Central Equatoria State, Juba City registered the biggest number of incidences that claimed several lives.

Wau Airport scoped the second position of the airstrips that registered several incidences, though the number of passengers killed was less.

According to the data, there were few survivors from all the crashes. However, most of the occurrences were incident-related. There were no hijacking or criminal related incidences in all the cases.

Note: The analysis identified that the government or concerned authorities didn’t make investigations or findings of most the incidences public, apart from few.

IATA neglected call

On February 8, 2021, the International Air Transport Association in a letter encouraged South Sudan’s Civil Aviation Authorities to ensure that the desired level of safety and efficiency is implemented in the lower airspace.  

The association stressed that many interventions have not resulted in a clear improvement in safety performance.

In addition, the aviation body claimed that Juba is considered a challenging operational environment due to the following reported deficiencies:

  • Air Traffic Services.
  • Industrial action by civilian air traffic service personnel.
  • Deployment of military air traffic controllers to replace civilian personnel.
  • RNAV/GNSS approach procedures are deficient. Previous procedures were cancelled and are no longer valid.
  • Frequency congestion as a result of combined Ground, Tower and Approach control services on a single frequency.

IATA recommended that airlines operating within the South Sudan Airspace at a minimum should: –

1.Treat the operation as specialized, and continue to exercise robust risk management practices pertaining to the operation.

2.Ensure crews are well briefed of the above challenges.

3.Operators should continue reporting issues/concerns in the above airspace using safety reporting mechanisms and, where applicable, the IATA GADM IDX program.

But the call seems to have gone in vain or authorities might be implementing the appeal undercover.

Below are three graphs summarizing the above data…..

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    South Sudan has only three psychiatrists

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    Indeed, South Sudan has only three psychiatrists

    Claim: South Sudan has three psychiatrists

    Verdict: Checked

    Source: UNICEF (a tweet by Radio Miraya) 

    South Sudan has only three psychiatrists, the ministry of health has confirmed. 

    “South Sudan has only 3 psychiatrists for the whole population. @unicefssudan is working with the #SouthSudan government to train social workers to bridge that dangerous gap – Abraham Deng and Helene Ryeng @unicefssudan #SouthSudan #SSOT” according to a tweet by Radio Miraya published on 16th of February. 

    The above tweet caused huge controversies online, with many users saying the country has more psychiatrists, while others relied behind the information posted by Radio Miraya. 

    When fact checked by 211 Check, the Ministry of Health spokesperson – Dr. Loi Thou admitted that the country has three psychartrists.

    “Yes, it is true there are three (3) psychiatrists, they are senior specialists but there are also other categories like the junior psychiatrist, social workers, and people who are doing psycho-social support. There are many but the specialists are three” said Dr. Loi.

    Previous Reports

    The BBC reported on 30th October 2014 that “In South Sudan, a country of some 11 million people, there are only two trained psychiatrists”.

    https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-29823344#:~:text=In%20South%20Sudan%2C%20a%20country,are%20only%20two%20trained%20psychiatrists

    The Aljazeera reported on 18th January 2019 that “Only three psychiatrist practice in war torn South Sudan, where many people believe in supernatural possession”.

    https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.aljazeera.com/amp/features/2019/1/18/in-south-sudan-stigma-and-underfunding-plague-mental-health-care