Deputy parliament speaker Mohammed al-Hassan al-Ameen said the death toll was "about 30 people." Police spokesman Mohammed Abdel Majid al-Tayeb said five bodies had been pulled from the wreckage, 100 people were safe and an unspecified number were hospitalized.

Rescuers attend the scene where a Sudanese jetliner veered off a runway after landing amid thunderstorms and exploded into flames, at the airport in the capital Khartoum, Sudan late Tuesday, June 10, 2008. Over 200 passengers were aboard the plane when it landed with conflicting initial reports as to the number of casualties. [Agencies]

An Associated Press reporter at the scene said the plane appeared to have left the runway as it landed at Khartoum International Airport.

Sudanese television footage showed a hellish scene, with orange flames dwarfing firefighters and towering above the shattered fuselage. Ambulances and firetrucks rushed to the scene. Media were kept away from the blaze.

Youssef Ibrahim, director of the Khartoum airport, told Sudanese TV that the plane "landed safely" in Khartoum and the pilot was talking to the control tower and getting further instructions when the accident occurred.

"One of the (plane's) engines exploded and the plane caught fire," Ibrahim said. He said bad weather did not cause the crash, which he blamed on a technical problem.