UN Staff among survivors of deadly plane crash in DR Congo

Three UN staff members survived the plane crash that happened Tuesday in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), UN spokesperson Michele Montas said.

Montas told reporters at the UN Headquarters in New York that according to the UN Mission there, seven passengers have survived the crash, including two international UNICEF staff, one of whom is in critical condition, and one national staff member from the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and the spouse of a national OCHA staff member.

She said that the mission has dispatched first-aid teams with ambulance and fire crews to the site of the crash and UN medical teams are helping to evacuate victims to a UN hospital.

A passenger plane crashed in the town of Goma in DRC shortly after taking off, with 94 people on board. The pilot, his co-pilot and a flight attendant are believed to have survived.

The DC-9 plane, belonging to the private Hewa Bora airways, took off from Goma airport at 02:20 p.m. local time and crashed in the densely-populated Birere neighborhood near the airport due to unknown plane failure, said the official.

The fore part of the plane looked roughly intact amid smoke and flames billowing at the crash site, where UN peacekeepers were trying to put out the fire. The wings were ripped off and the undercarriage and tail were damaged.

The exact number of casualties is still to be established, but at least five survivors have been found in the wreckages of the Kinshasa-bound plane.