UN confirms just 1 survivor in Congo crash
UNITED NATIONS
U.N. spokesman Farhan Haq said the plane crashed Monday as it
was landing in the city of Kinshasa. Haq did not say exactly how
many people were believed killed so it was unclear whether anyone
else may have survived.
The cause of the crash was not immediately known.
A top Congolese aviation official, who spoke on condition of
anonymity because he was not permitted to speak to the media, said
the plane was traveling from Kisangani to Kinshasa. Earlier Monday,
the Congolese aviation official had said at least 26 people had
been killed and six others injured.
The U.N. peacekeeping mission in New York described the craft as
a small passenger plane and said it was ferrying a mix of U.N.
personnel, including peacekeepers.
The U.N. mission in Congo, known as MONUSCO, includes more than
19,000 uniformed peacekeeping troops. The mission is charged with
protecting civilians in the enormous Central African nation wracked
by violence from a myriad of rebel groups and militias.
Few passable roads traverse Congo after decades of war and
corrupt rule, forcing the country's deeply impoverished people to
rely on ill-maintained planes and boats to move around. Congo has
one of the worst air safety records in the world. The Central
African country's safety regulations are notoriously lax.
