Congo Plane Crash Kills 75

Only one survivor from Kinshasa crash

(AP) - More heartbreak for the UN : A small passenger plane carrying United Nations staffers crashed yesterday in the Congo and broke into pieces, killing 32 of 33 people onboard, UN officials have confirmed.The UN peacekeeping mission in New York described the craft as a small passenger plane and said it was ferrying a mix of mostly UN personnel, including peacekeepers. The lone survivor was hospitalized after the crash in Kinshasa. Investigators suspect windy weather caused the plane to miss the airstrip. More»

Congo survivor says smuggled reptile caused stampede

(NEWSER) - The sole survivor of a plane crash in the Congo says an escaped crocodile is to blame for the tragedy. The crocodile had been smuggled on board in a sports bag and sparked panic after it freed itself, causing a stampede of passengers which destabilized the plane and caused the crash, the survivor says. Nineteen people, including the British pilot, died, the Guardian reports. More»

Lech Kaczynski will lie in state at presidential palace in Warsaw

(NEWSER) - Mourners filled the streets of Warsaw today as the coffin bearing the body of president Lech Kaczynski returned to the presidential palace, where he will lie in state for a week. Earlier, Vladimir Putin attended a memorial service for Kaczynski, his wife, Maria, and the 94 other victims of yesterday's plane crash near Smolensk. The Russian PM vowed to personally supervise the investigation, reports the BBC . More»

(AP) - Hillary Clinton traveled to war-ravaged eastern Congo today, where the nation's top diplomat demanded an end to the sexual violence that has claimed at least 200,000 victims. Clinton came to Goma aboard a UN plane over the objections of some top aides who were concerned about security and logistics for the visit. She is the first secretary of state to visit the city. More»

Search continues as France sends searcher robots to Comoros

(AP) - Investigators have concluded that the black boxes from Yemenia Airways Flight 626 that plunged into the Indian Ocean are too deep to be reached by divers, a French official said today. French investigators are trying to determine the exact zone where the boxes can be found using equipment that allows them to pick up signal beacons, he added, but cannot pinpoint the direction or distance of the sound. More»