Plane crashes in Congo, death toll unknown

Wasif Chudhary



KINSHASA, Congo (AP) — A provincial official in the Congolese province of South Kivu says a plane has crashed after takeoff and there is no news of the passengers on board.
Laban Kyalangalilwa, the minister in charge of transportation in South Kivu province, said Tuesday the plane took off from the city of Bukavu at 7:45 a.m. on Monday and was due to land at an airport in the town of Namoya an hour later. The plane never arrived.
He said a second plane was sent to survey the route, and they found what looked like the debris of the Antonov about 6 miles (10 kilometers) away from the Namoya runway.
Kyalangalilwa said that there were at least five people on board. He could not confirm whether any had survived, but said that it was unlikely given the degree of debris at the crash site.