Twenty-three bodies were recovered on Sunday after a small plane crashed on takeoff into a densely populated area of Goma in the Democratic Republic of Congo, rescue workers said.
The aircraft crashed in the Mapendo neighbourhood after “missing” its take-off from the city’s international airport, North Kivu regional governor Nzanzu Kasivita said.
He said there had been deaths, but did not give a number. But Goma airport official Richard Mangolopa told AFP no survivors were expected from the disaster.
Residents on the ground were among the casualties, local media reported.
Air accidents are relatively frequent in DR Congo amid lax safety standards and poor maintenance, and all the country’s commercial carriers are banned from operating in the European Union.
Rescue workers are evacuating the injured and retrieving bodies from the wreckage.