At least 79 dead as plane crashes in Congo market

A PLANE crashed yesterday into a crowded neighbourhood in eastern Congo, and at least 79 people were believed to have died, government officials said.

There were six known survivors.

It was not immediately clear how many people may have been killed on the ground in the Central African nation when the DC-9 plane faltered shortly after takeoff, said Julien Mpaluku, the governor of the province.

“We have already picked up many bodies — dozens of bodies,” Mpaluku said. “There are a lot of flames which makes it difficult to know if the bodies we are picking up are those of passengers of the plane or else passers-by or people that lived in the area where the plane crashed“.

Smoke engulfed the charred ruins of the aircraft, which appeared to have broken in two when it slammed into the rooftops of about 10 cement homes just outside the airport, destroying them instantly.

Soldiers kept onlookers away after UN peacekeepers helped douse flames at the crash site.

Employees at the Goma headquarters of WorldVision said they saw the plane plough through houses and shops in the highly populated market area.

“Smoke was rising from the plane“, Christian Kilundu, a spokesman for the Goma office of the international aid group said. One of the pilots also survived the crash, Mpaluku said.

The plane plummeted into the market neighbourhood of Birere, just beyond the runway, the governor said. The runway used to continue into the neighbourhood, but was partially blocked by lava from a 2001 volcanic eruption in Goma, a town located 1,100km east of the capital, Kinshasa.