South Sudan businessman Ayii Duang threatened with lawsuit over Pieri plane crash

JUBA – Families whose relatives perished during the March 2, plane crash in Pieri County of Jonglei state have threatened to sue businessman Ayii Duang if he does not compensate their relatives within two weeks’ time, Radio Tamazuj reports.

On March 2, South Supreme Airline plane heading to Juba from Pieri town airstrip crashed a few minutes after taking off. The fatal crash resulted in the death of at least ten people and Duang, who owns the company, promised to compensate the families.

Makuei Puok Bai, a representative of the aggrieved families, said they had gone to the ministry of justice over the issue, but were referred to arbitration before resorting to court with the company. He said since then, they have been engaging with the company but have not resolved anything because they demand $170,000

“If you could recall in May, we initiated some proceedings through the justice ministry. But the ministry advised us to first seek redress outside the court through an advocate. So, for all these long we have been engaging the airline company,” Puok who lost two members in the crash said.

“We have made a submission, detailing our demands to the company. According to international laws regulating the operation of airlines, we need $170,000 in compensation, failure of which will take us to the court,” he added.

A prominent Juba lawyer representing the families, Monyluak Alor Kuol said his law firm is seeking compensation from the company outside of the court within two weeks, a failure to which they will take the company to court.

Responding to the concerns, Ayii urged the families to remain patient until the investigations are concluded.

“Till now, we are still waiting for the results of investigations into the crash to be made known to us. As a company, we also need compensation from our insurers just like the victims’ families. That will not happen when investigations are not done. So, they should be patient,” he stated.

This is the second such incident reported involving a plane operated by South Supreme Airlines. The first occurred in 2017 when one of its planes caught fire and made a crash landing in Wau, but there were no fatalities.