A plane with 27 passengers on board crashed on Sunday near the diamond-rich city of Tshikapa in Kasai Occidental province, news organisations reported. Aviation officials told the Associated Press agency that there were no survivors among the 21 passengers and six crew members. The plane, a 20-seater Antonov 26-B, crashed shortly after beginning a flight back to the capital Kinshasa, 400 miles away. Air transport is a common mode of transport throughout the DRC due to the lack of a road network, and planes that fly through the interior are usually overcrowded, observers said. The Ukrainian news agency UNIAN said the plane was operated by a Russian/Ukrainian crew, but quoted the Ukrainian transport ministry which stressed Ukraine had nothing to do with the aircraft itself.
This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions
Share this article
