A United Nations plane crashed while trying to land at an airport in the Democratic Republic of Congo yesterday, killing 32 people
Only one person survived the crash at Kinshasa airport, which is one of the worst ever involving UN transport.
“We can now confirm that there was only one survivor from the 33 people on the MONUSCO plane which crashed today,” UN deputy spokesman Farhan Haq said in New York.
There were no details about the sole survivor, who was taken to hospital after the crash.
The plane was carrying 29 passengers - mainly UN officials and peacekeepers - and four crew on a regular UN flight from the northeastern city of Kisangani to N’Djili airport in Kinshasa when it crashed.
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The Bombardier CRJ aircraft, run by the UN mission in the Congo, MONUSCO, smashed to pieces when it hit the ground as the pilot tried to land in torrential rain, witnesses said.
A witness said there were strong winds blowing at the time and the plane landed heavily, broke into two and caught fire.
Alain Le Roy, the UN peacekeeping chief, said the plane had missed the runway, probably due to wind.
The plane’s operator, the Georgian flag carrier Airzena Georgian Airways, said the four crew members were Georgian.
All but five of the 29 passengers were believed to be UN personnel, while the others worked for non-governmental organisations. Their nationalities are not known.
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Images showed the plane was completely destroyed and the wreckage could be seen strewn across the end of the runway.
The UN said it would set up an investigation immediately.
The Security Council expressed its “deepest condolences” to the families of those who died. Susan Rice, the US Ambassador, issued a separate statement, saying “the loss of humanitarians and peacekeepers today is a tragedy for the United Nations.”
The UN’s 19,000-strong peacekeeping mission is backing Congo government efforts to fight rebel groups that have been haunting the country’s troubled east since a 1998-2003 civil war that killed five million people.