Khartoum: A Sudanese airliner crashed early on July 8 in eastern Sudan, killing all but one of the 116 people aboard, including a senior military officer and three Indians, officials said.

A baby was the sole survivor of the Sudan Airways Boeing 737 accident, which occurred shortly after take-off from Port Sudan on the Red Sea bound for the capital Khartoum, airline and government officials said.

Jalal Mahmud al-Ajab, a senior Sudan Airways official, identified the dead officer as Major Gen Nural- Hoda Fadlallah, head of Sudan's air Defence forces based in Port Sudan.

Ajab also said that three Indians, one Briton, a Chinese, an Ethiopian, and a United Arab Emirates national also died in the crash. The nationality of an eighth foreigner reported killed was not immediately known.

There was no immediate confirmation of the deaths from the respective embassies.

"All of the dead, including the foreigners, were buried at the scene," said Ajab, who listed the crash as a "pure accident".

A Sudanese government spokesman said the plane's pilot reported "technical problems" about 10 minutes after taking off from Port Sudan.

The plane crashed on a strip of land near the Red Sea coast about 18 kilometres from the airport, Abdel Hamid Abdeen said.

Ajab identified the boy who survived the crash as nine-month-old Mohammed al-Fatah, and said he was being treated in a Port Sudan hospital after losing a leg.

Agencies