Sudan's state news agency says a plane carrying government officials has crashed in the country's south, killing the minister of endowment and several other people on board.

SUNA says the plane crashed "due to harsh weather conditions" on Sunday and that the minister of endowment, Ghazi al-Sadeq, was among those killed. He was heading to the volatile South Kordofan state, which lies along the border with newly independent South Sudan, to attend a religious holiday.

The agency says the plane crashed in a mountainous area near Talodi, a small town about 650 kilometers, or 406 miles, southwest of the capital, Khartoum.

SUNA did not immediately specify the number of people killed or give other details.