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- Oct 2, 2007
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Only one person among 33 passengers and crew survived after a UN plane crashed while attempting to land in poor weather in the Democratic Republic of the Congo on Monday. The accident, in Kinshasa, is one of the worst to involve a UN aircraft. Most of the passengers were UN staff and peacekeepers, although five NGO workers were also on board.
Alain Le Roy, the head of UN peacekeeping operations, said there had been no immediate information about the sole survivor, who is in hospital in the Congolese capital.The plane, which was travelling from the eastern city of Goma, had missed the runway in N'djili airport in Kinshasa, possibly because of heavy winds, Le Roy said. The Bombardier CRJ-100 jet broke up on impact and caught fire. Television footage showed the aircraft was almost destroyed. A formal investigation into the crash is under way
.
While the nationalities of the victims have not been confirmed, the South African government said three of its citizens had died in the accident. The International Rescue Committee, an American aid agency, said its senior reproductive health adviser in Congo, Dr Boubacar Toure, a Guinean, was also among the dead.
The plane was operated and staffed by Airzena Georgian Airways. The company, which has been flying for the UN in Congo for three years, said its four crew members, all Georgians, had died, and expressed shock at the accident. The UN security council has sent its "deepest condolences" to the families of the victims.With 19,000 troops, the UN peacekeeping mission in Congo is the world's largest, and is reliant on air transport as the road network is inadequate.
Congo has one of the world's worst aviation safety records, mainly because of the fleet of old and often poorly maintained aircraft that serve the civilian population.
Congo plane crash kills 32 | World news | guardian.co.uk
Alain Le Roy, the head of UN peacekeeping operations, said there had been no immediate information about the sole survivor, who is in hospital in the Congolese capital.The plane, which was travelling from the eastern city of Goma, had missed the runway in N'djili airport in Kinshasa, possibly because of heavy winds, Le Roy said. The Bombardier CRJ-100 jet broke up on impact and caught fire. Television footage showed the aircraft was almost destroyed. A formal investigation into the crash is under way
.
While the nationalities of the victims have not been confirmed, the South African government said three of its citizens had died in the accident. The International Rescue Committee, an American aid agency, said its senior reproductive health adviser in Congo, Dr Boubacar Toure, a Guinean, was also among the dead.
The plane was operated and staffed by Airzena Georgian Airways. The company, which has been flying for the UN in Congo for three years, said its four crew members, all Georgians, had died, and expressed shock at the accident. The UN security council has sent its "deepest condolences" to the families of the victims.With 19,000 troops, the UN peacekeeping mission in Congo is the world's largest, and is reliant on air transport as the road network is inadequate.
Congo has one of the world's worst aviation safety records, mainly because of the fleet of old and often poorly maintained aircraft that serve the civilian population.
Congo plane crash kills 32 | World news | guardian.co.uk
