News / Africa

Plane Crash Kills 5 in DRC; Toll Much Lower Than Feared

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VOA News
Officials in the Democratic Republic of Congo now say a passenger plane crash in the east of the country has killed five people, after earlier reports that the death toll was much higher.

Congolese officials say at least three people survived the crash of a Fokker airplane when it went down Monday in a residential area of Goma, capital of North Kivu province.

Congolese officials earlier told reporters that at least 30 people had died in the crash.

The plane belonged to the private CAA airline company and was heading to Goma from the central mining town of Lodja when it went down.  The exact number of passengers on board the flight is not known.  

Police sources say those who survived the crash are being treated at a hospital.

A spokesman for the United Nations mission in the Congo, Alexander Essome, told VOA that the area was experiencing bad weather at the time of the crash.

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