A small plane carrying 19 passengers and crew crashed on takeoff Sunday into a densely populated area of Goma in the Democratic Republic of Congo, the airline and witnesses said.
The Dornier-228 aircraft had been headed for Beni, 350 kilometres (220 miles) north of Goma when it went down. It crashed into a residential area near Goma airport.
“There were 17 passengers on board and two crew members. It took off around 9-9.10 am (0700 GMT),” Busy Bee airline staff member Heritier Said Mamadou said.
Busy Bee, a recent company, has three planes serving routes in North Kivu province.
Twenty-three bodies have so far been recovered from the scene. Local media reports that residents on the ground are among the casualties.
Goma airport official Richard Mangolopa told AFP no survivors were expected from the disaster.
“We are up to 23 bodies now,” Goma rescue service coordinator Joseph Makundi also told AFP.
