People rushed to the site where a plane skidded off the runway at Juba International Airport on Friday. |Photo: Social media/Courtesy.

Hundreds of civilians being flown from Paloch survived when a cargo plane experienced a runway excursion at Juba International Airport on Friday, an official said.

The civilians who reportedly survived the crash fled the violence in Sudan in the past few weeks.

Kur Kuol, the Managing Director of the Juba International Airport said the incident was caused by rain that made the runway slippery.

The aircraft 707 was hired to fly South Sudanese citizens stranded in the oilfield town of Paloch in Upper Nile State to Juba.

“That is true. When the plane left this morning, its was raining heavily, so the water invaded the runway and the landing site was shortened and the plane overran the runway thank god everyone is safe,” Kuol told Eye Radio.

The official said the plane left Juba in the morning. He said no casualties have been reported.

The incident is the latest in many reported cases of plane crashes in the past.