Plane Crashes in Congo Capital

A plane smashed into a crowded neighborhood in Kinshasa today, an all-too familiar occurrence in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Officials don’t know how many were killed by the falling plane, which completely destroyed two houses, but witnesses told Reuters they saw at least six bodies pulled from the wreckage. All 17 aboard the plane were killed, the government said.

Firefighters in the Congo's capital fought through crowds to reach the wreckage, where at least four buildings were on fire. “Everybody in the houses must be dead,” one witness said. A similar crash in 1996 killed 350 in Kinshasa. Congo’s airlines are notoriously dangerous; almost all are blacklisted by the EU. Last month another Russian-built craft overshot a runway, killing eight. (More Democratic Republic of Congo stories.)