Scores of people were feared to have been killed—as many as 19 according to one report—after a passenger plane crashed in the western Democratic Republic (DR) of Congo on Wednesday morning, officials said.
The 16-seat aircraft belonging to local airline Filair had departed the capital of Kinshasa early on Wednesday en-route to Bandundu province. It then left for three more locations, and eventually crashed as it was returning to Bandundu province.
United Nations spokesman Madnodje Mounoubai told BNO News that the aircraft crashed about 300 meters from an airstrip. “It crashed into a couple of houses,” Mounoubai said.
Mounoubai said multiple people were killed on the ground, but had no exact figures. He also did not know the exact number of passengers and crew, and said he was not aware of any survivors.
Congolese airlines are considered among the most dangerous in the world and Filair is among 33 airlines from DR Congo to have been banned from the European Union.
Further details were not immediately available.
With NYCAviation reporting
