A small passenger plane crashed shortly after take-off on Sunday, killing at least 25 people, including some on the ground, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
According to Aljazeera, the plane, operated by local company Busy Bee, went down after shortly take-off in the eastern city of Goma, North Kivu Governor Carly Nzanzu Kasivita’s office said in a statement.
Smoke rises from the scene after a small plane crashed in Goma, a city in the Democratic Republic of Congo, on Nov. 24, 2019.Pamela Tulizo / AFP – Getty Images
Two survivors, including one member of the crew, were being cared for at a local hospital, according to the National Border Health Programme.
The company said the 19-seater Dornier 228-200 had 16 passengers and two crew members on board. The aircraft was headed for the city of Beni, 350km (220 miles) north of Goma, when it went down.
The 19-seater aircraft crashed into residential homes in the Mapendo district near Goma’s airport in the North Kivu province shortly after “missing” its takeoff, according to provincial governor Nzanzu Kasivita Carly. Black smoke rose from the plane in the morning, whose wreckage could be seen amid destroyed homes as dozens of men tried to help with the rescue efforts. The smoke cleared as rescue workers carried bodies in stretchers and hundreds gathered at the scene.
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The exact number of casualties on the plane and on the ground was not yet known.
Witnesses said the pilot was attempting to return the plane to the airport after they heard a loud sound that seemed to come from the engine, according to Al Jazeera’s Alain Uaykani, reporting Beni.
He said Busy Bee indicated the engine had just been changed on the plane.
“Something apparently has gone wrong with the new engine. They could not save anyone from this plane because of the difficult situation with the location of the area,” Uaykani said.
Placide Kambale, a local pilot, said he took a taxi to the scene of the crash to help out. When he got there, the plane was on fire.
“I called other young people from the neighborhood, they helped me to try to remove those who still moved,” he said. “We have managed to recover two that was quickly sent to the hospital,” but then the fire expanded.
Joseph Makundi, coordinator of the North-Kivu civil protection, said that at least 25 people had been killed.
The Dornier 228-200 was owned by private carrier Busy Bee and was headed to Beni, about 220 miles north of Goma in the same province.
