Plane crash kills at least 23 in DR Congo

Source:Agencies Published: 2019/11/24 20:38:40

Residents react after a small aircraft carrying around 15 passengers crashed in a densely populated area in Goma on the East of the Democratic Republic of Congo on November 24, 2019. Photo: VCG

 

Twenty-three bodies were recovered on Sunday after a small plane crashed on takeoff into a densely populated area of Goma in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, rescue workers said. "We are up to 23 bodies now," Goma rescue service ­coordinator Joseph Makundi told AFP.

Goma airport official Richard Mangolopa told AFP no survivors were expected from the disaster.

The Dornier-228 aircraft had been headed for Beni, 350 kilometers north of Goma when it went down in a residential area near the airport in the east of the country.

"There were 17 passengers on board and two crew members. It took off around 9-9:10 am [07:00 GMT]," Busy Bee airline staff member Heritier Said Mamadou said.

Busy Bee, a recent company, has three planes serving routes in North Kivu province.

One of the company's maintenance workers at the site quoted by news site actualite.cd blamed a "technical problem."

The number of casualties on the ground was not yet known.

A Reuters witness at the scene of the crash said two people were rescued before the plane exploded.

Air accidents are relatively frequent in DR Congo because of lax safety standards and poor maintenance. All Congolese commercial carriers, including Busy Bee, are banned from ­operating in the European Union.

A cargo plane departing from the same airport crashed an hour after takeoff in October, killing all eight passengers.



Posted in: AFRICA

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