Death toll rises to 129 in Congo plane tragedy

More than 120 passengers died when they were sucked out of a transport plane when its massive rear cargo door burst open at 7,000 feet over the Democratic Republic of Congo.

“The doors opened including the ramp as the pressure system broke down,” a military official said.

The accident happened last night while the aircraft was on its way from the capital Kinshasa to the southern city of Lubumbashi, said officials.

The privately-owned Ilyushin 76 had been chartered to transport about 200 Congolese policemen and their families to Lubumbashi.

Congo’s Defence Minister Irung Awan confirmed there had been an accident but said he was unaware of any deaths.

Two officials at the Kinshasa international airport said 129 people were believed to have been sucked out of the plane.

After the accident occurred some 45 minutes into the flight, the Russian pilots managed to turn back and land the plane in Kinshasa, Awan said

The BBC’s Mark Dummett in Kinshasa reported that the poor state of the roads and the terrible state of the Congo economy means any journey over distance requires a hair-raising ride in a poorly-maintained aircraft.