129 die as door blows open mid-flight

MORE than 120 passengers were sucked out of a transport plane to their deaths when its massive rear cargo door burst open at 33,000 feet over the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The aircraft was carrying up to 200 policemen and their families across war-torn Democratic Republic of Congo, formerly Zaire, on Thursday night.

Airport officials in the capital of the central African nation, Kinshasa, said 129 passengers were sucked out when the rear door, which doubles as a ramp, of the Russian-built Ilyushin 76 burst away from the jet.

"The door opened after the hydraulic system failed," said a Congolese official.

Kaki Bin Kraut, a Congolese government spokesman, would only confirm seven people had been killed after being ejected from the plane at an altitude of 33,000ft near the southern city of Mbuji-Mayi.

Officials were investigating the possibility of other casualties, he said. But officials at Kinshasa international airport insisted 129 people were dead.

After the accident occurred 45 minutes into the flight the pilots managed to turn back and land the crippled plane in the capital, said Defence Minister Irung Awan.

Nine survivors were being treated for minor injuries and trauma at Kinshasa General Hospital, said Kabamba Mbwebwe, chief doctor at the hospital's emergency ward.

"They were traumatised and spoke of their baggage flying everywhere," he said. The plane, a four-engined Ilyushin 76 jet, had been chartered to transport Congolese police and their families from Kinshasa to the south-eastern town of Lubumbashi, a diamond centre.

It was not known why the door came open. Weather conditions during the flight were believed to have been normal. The Ilyushin 76 is a medium to long-range transport jet first flown in 1971. It is widely used around the world, particularly in Africa, the Mideast and Asia, as a civilian freighter.

This model plane has had at least 45 accidents resulting in 393 deaths, according to the Aviation Safety Network website. There is often little space on the plane for passengers, forcing people to sit in the rear cargo section gripping boxes and bags. In February, an Ilyushin 76 crashed in Iran, killing 275 people.