Congo plane crash leaves 26 dead

Twenty-six people were missing and feared dead today after a plane crashed in the east of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, an aviation official said.

The plane went missing shortly after take-off on Wednesday and was later found by UN helicopters in the dense forests near Walungu, said Raymond Sangara, co-ordinator of Congo’s civil aviation authority.

All 21 passengers aboard were Congolese traders, including women and children, said Sangara. The pilot was Russian and the four crew members were Ukrainian, he said.

There were no confirmed deaths, and a search for survivors was expected to begin soon, Sangara said.

The plane had lost contact with the radio tower three minutes after leaving the eastern town of Goma. It was bound for Kindu, some 240 miles southwest, but never arrived.

Walungu is about 75 miles south of Goma, and further east of the flight path. The town was the site of a recent massacre by area militia.