Fears over jet crash death toll

Dozens of people were feared dead after a cargo plane crashed into a crowded market in Congo’s capital Kinshasa today.

At least five bodies, including a baby, have been found by police in houses reduced to rubble by the impact.

But amid the flames, smoke and chaos 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 three miles from the airport shortly after takeoff.

Eyewitness Papy Kangufu said the confusion was making it hard to tell exactly what happened at the scene but the market was full of people when the plane crashed.

Others 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.

“According to early reports, all people on board were killed. There are also casualties among people at the market,” one news agency said.

Cargo planes in Congo are often flown by experienced pilots from former Soviet states, but the aircraft are often old, ill-maintained and overcrowded.

In 1996, an Antonov 32 turboprop crashed seconds after takeoff from the airport, skidding across a busy street and ploughing into a crowded open-air market. The crash killed at least 300 people, one of the worst air accidents in Congo’s history.

The country’s deeply impoverished people are forced to rely on unsafe boats and planes to move around the country which has few passable roads after decades of war and corrupt rule.