A Russian-built cargo plane with passengers on board crashed on Wednesday, November 4, after taking off from the airport in South Sudan's capital, killing at least 41 people on the flight and on the ground, an official and a Reuters witness said,the news agency reports.

Some of the victims are children, according to an Associated Press reporter near the scene said wreckage which was strewn on the east side of the River Nile.

Presidential spokesman Ateny Wek Ateny said it was a Russian-made cargo plane destined for the Paloch oil fields in Upper Nile state. The chartered Antonov crashed shortly after taking off Wednesday morning, he said.

Planes could still be seen taking off and arriving at the airport in Juba on Wednesday as many people gathered near the crash site about 1.5 kilometers from the airport.