This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It will not be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/world/africa/7027789.stm

The article has changed 8 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 3 Version 4
Seventeen die in DR Congo crash Seventeen die in DR Congo crash
(about 2 hours later)
A cargo plane has crashed into a busy market in Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo, killing at least 17 people, officials say. A plane has crashed into a busy market area in Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo, killing at least 17 people, officials say.
The Antonov 26 cargo plane owned by the Congolese airline, Africa 1, came down in the Kingasani residential area near Ndjili airport around 1030 (0930 GMT). The Antonov 26 cargo plane owned by the Congolese airline, Africa 1, ploughed through several houses in the Kingasani residential area near Ndjili airport.
A UN spokesman said he feared there were "many dead". He has sent a rescue team and firefighters to the crash. A UN spokesman said several more people had been on board the plane and that there were other victims on the ground.
Air accidents are frequent in DR Congo, where many airlines fly ageing planes.Air accidents are frequent in DR Congo, where many airlines fly ageing planes.
According to the African Airlines Association, the country has accounted for well over half of all the air crashes in Africa over the last decade. One out of every five fatal air accidents happens in Africa.According to the African Airlines Association, the country has accounted for well over half of all the air crashes in Africa over the last decade. One out of every five fatal air accidents happens in Africa.
'Many dead''Many dead'
The cargo plane carrying at least 17 people had been en route to Tshikapa, a town in the south of the country, when it crashed, an airport official told the Associated Press. The twin-propeller aircraft carrying at least 17 people had been en route to Tshikapa, a town in the south of the country, when it crashed, an airport official told the Associated Press.
It came down about 5km from Ndjili international airport in the Kingasani market, Appo Ilunga said. It came down around 1030 (0930 GMT) about 5km (three miles) from Ndjili international airport in the Kingasani market, Appo Ilunga said.
Antonov 28s are used extensively for transport in DR CongoAntonov 28s are used extensively for transport in DR Congo
A local resident, Papy Kangufu, said the market had been full of people when the plane ploughed into it. The area was full of smoke, he added. Papy Kangufu, a local resident, said the area had been full of people when the plane ploughed into it and sent a fireball into the air.
Another airport official who went to the crash site said at least four houses had been set alight and that everyone in the houses and the plane were likely to have been killed. Several houses were destroyed or set alight in the crash and smoke filled the sky.
A spokesman for the United Nations mission in Congo (MONUC) also said he feared the death toll would rise. The BBC's Emery Agalu Makumeno at the crash site says firefighters are still battling to put out the fire from the fuselage.
"There are casualties, many dead, but I don't have any specifics," Maj Gabriel De Brosses told Reuters. Rescuers are taking injured people to a nearby hospital and hundreds of local residents have crowded round the site to assist them.
In 1996, more than 300 people were killed when an Antonov 32 aircraft ploughed into a busy market soon after taking off from an airport in Kinshasa. It is difficult to get casualty figures on the ground, but a local police commander, Alexis Dekikobo, has said he saw the bodies of four adults and baby amid the wreckage.
A spokesman for the UN mission in DR Congo (Monuc), Michel Bonnardeaux, told the AFP news agency that 27 people had been on board the plane and that two members of the crew, a mechanic and an air hostess, had survived.
The Russian embassy in Kinshasa told the ITAR-Tass news agency that the Antonov's crew had been Russian.
EU ban
At least 20 private companies in DR Congo operate mainly old planes built in the former Soviet Union.
Last year, the European Union banned all but one of the country's air companies, including Africa 1, from operating in Europe.Last year, the European Union banned all but one of the country's air companies, including Africa 1, from operating in Europe.
The International Air Transport Association also included DR Congo in a group of several African countries it classed as an "embarrassment" to the industry.
In 1996, more than 300 people were killed when an Antonov 32 aircraft ploughed into a busy market soon after taking off from an airport in Kinshasa.
Aircraft are used extensively for transport in DR Congo, a huge country where there are few paved roads.