At least 13 people have been killed after a plane crashed and burst into flames in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The military aircraft came down in a residential area in Kenge, the capital of Kwango province, on Friday afternoon.
It had been travelling towards the capital Kinshasa when the pilot attempted to make an emergency landing. Remy Saki Bokinda, the vice governor of Kwango, said: “With no landing strip available in Kenge, the plane crashed into a residential plot.” Three army officers were reported to be among those killed, including General Likulia Bakumi, the army’s auditor general. A major and a captain were also among those on board, alongside other military personnel and civilians. Mr Bokinda said everyone travelling on the aircraft had tragically died.
He said: “All those on board died; 12 were burned beyond recognition, while the pilot’s lifeless body was found outside the aircraft.”
Footage from the scene showed the wreckage consumed by flames as thick black smoke poured into the sky.
Crowds gathered near the crash site as the burning remains of the aircraft were seen scattered across the ground.
An investigation into the disaster is expected to establish what caused the aircraft to come down.
Local reports said the aircraft had circled above Kenge several times as it apparently searched for somewhere to land.
Eyewitnesses at the site of the wreckage watch on in horror (Image: X/Dachronica)
It eventually came down in the Manzawu neighbourhood, in the commune of Masikita.
Despite the aircraft crashing into an inhabited area, no deaths or injuries were reported among people on the ground.
The Congolese Air Force was later sent to the scene to recover the bodies of those killed.
Vice-governor Remy Saki called for an expert investigation, with questions also raised over military weapons reportedly carried on board and whether they were destroyed in the crash.