http://edition.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/africa/10/04/congo.crash.ap/index.html
KINSHASA, Congo (AP) -- A cargo plane crashed in a residential neighborhood
near the main airport in Congo's capital of Kinshasa on Thursday, killing at
least five people, police said.
Several destroyed houses in the Kingasani neighborhood were ablaze after the
crash, and smoke filled the sky. Police commander Alexis Dekikobo said he had
seen five bodies in the rubble -- four adults and one baby.
A Russian media report said all aboard the An-26 were killed, although it
gave no numbers.
The plane crashed into a market area of the neighborhood around 10:30 a.m.,
said airport officer Appo Ilunga.
A witness reached by phone said the area was full of smoke and it was hard to
tell if there had been deaths or injuries. The witness, Papy Kangufu, said
the market was full of people when the plane crashed.
Ilunga said the plane had just taken off from the airport en route to central
Congo. Kingasani is about three miles from the Kinshasa airport.
Russia's ITAR-Tass news agency reported that the plane, which belonged to
Congolese carrier Africa 1, had a Russian crew.
"According to early reports, all people on board were killed. There are also
casualties among people at the market," it said.
U.N.-funded Radio Okapi cited witnesses in the area as saying the plane
damaged 10 houses on three streets.
The aircraft was headed to Chicapa in the province of Kasai Occidental, the
radio said.
Cargo planes in Congo are frequently 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
Kinshasa's main airport, skidding across a busy street and plowing into a
crowded open-air market. The crash killed at least 300 people, one of the
worst air accidents in Congo's history.
Few passable roads traverse Congo after decades of war and corrupt rule,
forcing the country's deeply impoverished people to rely on often-unsafe
boats and planes for transportation. E-mail to a friend
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