At least 21 people have died in South Sudan when a small aircraft carrying passengers from Juba International Airport to the city of Yirol crashed into a lake.

The plane carried a total of 22 passengers, among them were three children.

One of the survivors, an Italian doctor working with an NGO, is in critical condition and undergoing surgery in Yirol Hospital according to State Information Minister Taban Abel. An eyewitness said bodies were recovered from the water.