FOUR more bodies were found today after a plane crashed into the Republic of Congo's commercial capital, the city mayor said, raising the toll to 23 including a Russian crew of four.
The cargo plane slammed into a working-class residential area of Pointe-Noire port city as it was coming in to land on Sunday, razing around a dozen houses and causing a fire that residents said lasted for hours.
"In addition to the 19 bodies recovered yesterday, we have found four more this morning. That takes the toll to 23 dead," Pointe-Noire mayor Roland Bouiti-Viaudo said.
The Trans Air Congo (TAC) plane was carrying four Russians - two pilots and two mechanics, National Civil Aviation Agency director general Michel Ambende said. Five passengers were also on the plane, police said.
Emergency rescue teams searched the rubble of the destroyed buildings for any more victims, watched by about 300 onlookers. The plane was completely burnt out with only a part of its tail remaining intact.
Officials said yesterday around 14 people were also injured when the Antonov struck the city's Mvou Mvou district.
"There is no further news concerning the injured apart from a woman who sustained third-degree burns and who is being evacuated to South Africa," the mayor said.
The crash caused a fire that residents said raged for about three hours, with the aircraft landing on a tyre depot.
"I saw an unbalanced plane coming in our direction," said Albin Ibara, 35. "At one point, it swerved past a several-storey building. I lay down before I heard the crash."
Mr Ambende said a crisis committee would be established to investigate what caused the crash.
Antonovs, the elderly workhorses of many African nations, are no longer allowed to carry passengers in Congo after several crashes. Some crews however allow clandestine passengers aboard if they pay a fee.
The plane had been largely empty, only carrying about 750 kg of beef, Mr Ambende said.
Pointe-Noire, home to about one million inhabitants, has a major Atlantic Ocean port that handles most of the goods imported into Congo, as well as exports of oil.
In June 2010 Australian mining tycoon Ken Talbot and 10 colleagues were killed in a plane crash in the northwest of the country, and in August 2009 six crew members were killed when an Antonov cargo plane crashed at a cemetery on the outskirts of Brazzaville.
The cargo plane slammed into a working-class residential area of Pointe-Noire port city as it was coming in to land on Sunday, razing around a dozen houses and causing a fire that residents said lasted for hours.
"In addition to the 19 bodies recovered yesterday, we have found four more this morning. That takes the toll to 23 dead," Pointe-Noire mayor Roland Bouiti-Viaudo said.
The Trans Air Congo (TAC) plane was carrying four Russians - two pilots and two mechanics, National Civil Aviation Agency director general Michel Ambende said. Five passengers were also on the plane, police said.
Emergency rescue teams searched the rubble of the destroyed buildings for any more victims, watched by about 300 onlookers. The plane was completely burnt out with only a part of its tail remaining intact.
Officials said yesterday around 14 people were also injured when the Antonov struck the city's Mvou Mvou district.
"There is no further news concerning the injured apart from a woman who sustained third-degree burns and who is being evacuated to South Africa," the mayor said.
The crash caused a fire that residents said raged for about three hours, with the aircraft landing on a tyre depot.
"I saw an unbalanced plane coming in our direction," said Albin Ibara, 35. "At one point, it swerved past a several-storey building. I lay down before I heard the crash."
Mr Ambende said a crisis committee would be established to investigate what caused the crash.
Antonovs, the elderly workhorses of many African nations, are no longer allowed to carry passengers in Congo after several crashes. Some crews however allow clandestine passengers aboard if they pay a fee.
The plane had been largely empty, only carrying about 750 kg of beef, Mr Ambende said.
Pointe-Noire, home to about one million inhabitants, has a major Atlantic Ocean port that handles most of the goods imported into Congo, as well as exports of oil.
In June 2010 Australian mining tycoon Ken Talbot and 10 colleagues were killed in a plane crash in the northwest of the country, and in August 2009 six crew members were killed when an Antonov cargo plane crashed at a cemetery on the outskirts of Brazzaville.
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