250 Zaireans die as plane hurtles into market-place
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Kinshasa - At least 250 people were feared dead last night after a Zairean cargo plane crashed into a crowded market near an airport in Kinshasa. Most of the victims were women and children packed into the city-centre market of corrugated iron and wooden shacks.
"We found 217 bodies at the market," said Vincent Nicod of the International Red Cross. "I think there are 32 more bodies at hospital morgues in the town. So I don't think there are less than 250 people in all."
Rescuers pulled mutilated bodies from the wreck of the Russian-built Antonov and the debris of the market. The plane had ploughed along a street for about 100 yards before it came to a halt, belching flames and clouds of black smoke.
A crowd tried to lynch four Russian crew members who managed to scramble from the wrecked plane before it burst into flames. Zaire's state prosecutor, Mukenge Bisumbule, said police took the Russians into custody after saving them from the mob at a city clinic. Police were looking for two other crew members, a Ukrainian and a Zairean.
Red Cross workers with bloodstained stretchers joined soldiers and local volunteers. With plastic bags on their hands they picked up the bodies and pieces of flesh.
Tears streamed down the faces of the workers, in part from the smoke still pouring from the crash and partly from the horror of the scene.
The exact number of injured would be difficult to determine, rescuers said.
"We evacuated 40 wounded but there were many more who left in private vehicles. So we can't really tell how many there were," Mr Nicod said at the crash scene.
The dead were lined up in two rows, covered in blankets. Wailing women stood by. Others lifted up the blankets in the search for friends or relatives.
"The aircraft tried to take off but it only got a few metres off the ground, then it disappeared and there was an explosion." said Gothie Mukoka, who was at the airfield.
Airport sources said that the plane belonged to a private Zairean firm, Africa Airlines.
A Zairean air force colonel who was also at the airport said that the aircraft appeared to be overloaded.
Last month a Lockheed Electra passenger plane owned by another private Zairean firm crashed in Angola, killing 141 people. Zaire's Transport Minister said that he believed it was overloaded.
At the time, the Zaire pilots' association complained of lack of regulation in the country's civil aviation.
The road network in Zaire has broken down along with the economy, which is in a shambles because of neglect, corruption and mismanagement. Private airline companies have mushroomed as the most feasible means of transport in the vast Central African country.
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