Passenger plane hits Congo market district
Just 6 known survivors of DC-9 carrying 85; ground casualties also likely
Explore the political, cultural and historical issues surrounding one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises. Editor's note: Some images are graphic.
BREAKING NEWS
MSNBC News Services
updated 11:33 a.m. ET April 15, 2008
GOMA, Congo - A plane crashed Tuesday into a residential neighborhood in the eastern Congo town of Goma, and at least 79 people were believed to have died, government officials said. There were six known survivors.
It was not immediately known how many people may have been killed on the ground 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."
Among the survivors was one of the pilots, Mpaluku said.
The plane is owned by Hewa Bora, a private airline based in the country, Mpaluku said. It was headed to Kinshasa, Congo's capital, said Gauthier Iloko, the second-in-command at the Goma airport.
The neighborhood of Birere, where the plane went down, is located just beyond the runway. The runway used to continue into the neighborhood, but was partially destroyed by lava from a 2001 volcanic eruption.
