South Sudanese President Salva Kiir has issued a statement to extend condolences to the families of those who lost their lives in a cargo plane crash on Saturday morning.

A UN World Food Programme (WFP) chartered cargo plane crashed in the Kameru neighbourhood shortly after its early morning takeoff on Saturday from Juba's international airport. The plane was heading to Wau town.

“The plane was carrying a total of nine people, including its crew members. There were six South Sudanese, one Ukrainian and two Tajiks. Of this number, only one South Sudanese survived the impact of the crash and the other eight people were deceased,” Kiir’s statement read in part.

The president said investigations by aviation authorities to determine the cause of the plane crash are ongoing, urging the public to be patient as investigators continue to gather information towards finding the cause of the crash.

The South Sudanese leader instructed the Ministry of Transport and Aviation Authorities to adhere to international standards in the operations of aircraft when assessing airworthy of planes destined to operate in South Sudan.

“There have been too many air accidents in this country and it cannot be business as usual when it comes to the issue of safety of air travellers, because lives are at stake,” he said.

“I know that it is hard to cope with the tragedy of this nature, but let us work hard to find the cause of this accident and use the lessons learned from it to prevent the occurrence of similar tragedies in the future,” he concluded.