Russian crew killed after military plane crashes in Congo

A source at the army HQ says there were "between 20 and 30 people" on board when it took off from Ndolo airport in Kinshasa.

September 30, 2017 04:30 pm | Updated 09:17 pm IST - KINSHASA

A photograph taken with a mobile phone shows civilians gathering near the burning wreckage of the military cargo plane that crashed in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo, on September 30, 2017.

A photograph taken with a mobile phone shows civilians gathering near the burning wreckage of the military cargo plane that crashed in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo, on September 30, 2017.

A military transport plane belonging to the Congolese army crashed near Kinshasa on Saturday, killing "several dozen" people, military and airport sources told AFP.

The Antonov transport plane had just taken off and had "several dozen people" on board, an airport source told AFP, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The plane went down in Nsele, about 100 kilometres (60 miles) to the east of Kinshasa, capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo, the source said.

A local official in the area of the crash told AFP there were "no survivors."

It had a Russian crew

The plane, which had a Russian crew, was carrying "two vehicles and weapons" and military personnel, a source at the army's headquarters told AFP, also speaking on condition of anonymity.

He said there were "between 20 and 30 people" on board when it took off from Ndolo airport in Kinshasa.

A witness at the crash site told AFP he had seen the plane "falling" out the sky shortly before 9:00 am but said there was no sign of any smoke coming from the aircraft.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.