Dozens feared dead as jet crashes into homes

DOZENS of people were feared dead after a cargo plane crashed into homes in Congo’s capital Kinshasa yesterday.

At least 19 bodies, including a baby, have been found by police in houses reduced to rubble by the impact. All 16 of those on board the jet are also thought to have died. But amid the flames, smoke and chaos at the crash scene it was feared the final total would be much higher.

An airport spokesman said the Russian-built twin-engined Antonov 26 jet crashed into a residential area of the Kingasani district, 5km from the airport shortly after takeoff.

Several destroyed houses near a crowded market were in flames after the crash and smoke filled the sky.

Civil aviation chief Alphonse Ilunga said 19 bodies had been dragged out of the rubble so far.

Other witnesses said the plane wrecked at least 10 houses on three streets.

Reports from Moscow said that the plane, which belonged to Congolese carrier Africa 1 and was on an internal flight, had a Russian crew. Cargo planes in Congo are often flown by experienced pilots from former Soviet states, but the aircraft are usually old, ill-maintained and overcrowded.

In 1996 an Antonov 32 turboprop crashed seconds after takeoff from the airport and ploughed into a crowded open-air market.

The crash killed at least 300 people, one of the worst air accidents in Congo’s history.

In August, the government suspended the licences of a number of private local airlines and suspended the national director of civil aviation after an Antonov 12 overloaded by three tons crashed in the eastern region of Katanga, killing 14.

Some local airline companies flew during continuous wars that lasted from 1996 to 2002, when regulations and government controls in the region were even weaker than today.