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DRC plane crash toll rises
18/04/2008 18:10 - (SA)
Goma - The death toll from a plane crash in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo rose to 47 Friday after five bodies were found in the rubble of wrecked houses and two people died of their injuries.
The remains found were buried immediately in a local cemetery in Goma, capital of the vast central African country's eastern Nord-Kivu province, where the ageing DC-9 crashed on take-off on Tuesday, Red Cross officials said.
The two survivors died Thursday, the head of city's general hospital, Dr Didier Ndabaweje, told AFP.
The district of Birere where the crash happened remained sealed off Friday as rescuers hunted for more bodies feared to be lying under smashed shops and houses.
Authorities said some 15 people in all were still unaccounted for.
Meanwhile Nord-Kivu province staged a day of morning Friday, with flags at half-mast and church services.
With the precise cause of the crash still unknown, calls have grown for Kinshasa to enact "urgent, effective and durable measures" to make the country's skies safe.
Airport sources in Goma have said the DC-9 suffered an engine problem after the plane skidded on water along the pothole-strewn runway, with the pilot first trying to continue his take-off then braking and losing control.
However, DRC's aviation sector is generally viewed as being in a chronic state of disrepair, with ageing Soviet-era aircraft littering the country's stock.
Every single one of DRC's 50-odd registered airlines has been placed on a European Union blacklist alongside companies from Sierra Leone, Ukraine, North Korea and Liberia.
A 2006 ruling prohibits entry to European airspace, with the Goma plane's owners Hewa Bora having been added to the EU blacklist just last week.
It was the country's fifth fatal plane crash since June last year.
In October an Antonov cargo aircraft ploughed into a working class district of Kinshasa, killing at least 50 people.
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