An-12 Freighter Crashes on East Congo Runway, 8 Dead

An Antonov An-12 four-engined turboprop freighter aircraft like this crashed at Goma in eastern Congo after landing long and hitting lava rocks on the runway. At least eight people were killed in the accident. The pilots reportedly were operating the airrcaft for Congolese company Galaxy Kavatsi, but the aircraft reportedly was owned by Georgian carrier Transaviservice. The usable length of the runway at Goma's airport was shortened drastically in 2001 when lava from an erupting volcano flowed over the runway and inundated much of Goma itself. Credit: Antonov

KINSHASA, Congo (AP) -- A cargo plane crashed into a chunk of hardened lava at an airport in eastern Congo Friday, bursting into flames and killing at least eight people, the regional governor said.

The Antonov-12 landed too far down the runway in Goma to allow it to stop before hitting the lava rocks, North Kivu Gov. Julien Mpaluku told The Associated Press by telephone. Lava from a volcanic eruption in 2001 flowed through half of Goma and the airport, reducing the area where aircraft could land.

Rescue teams recovered the bodies of five crew members and three girls believed to be under the age of 15, Mpaluku said. It was not clear why the girls were aboard the plane.

Mpaluku said four of the crew members were Russian and one was Congolese. But in Moscow, Russian Foreign Ministry deputy spokesman Boris Malakhov put the toll at four, none of whom were Russian, the ITAR-Tass news agency reported. The dead included two Ukrainians and two Georgians, the news agency quoted Malakhov as saying.

"The Russian embassy is ready to assist representatives of Ukraine and Georgia, which do not have diplomatic missions in the Democratic Republic of Congo," Malakhov said. "We have done that before."

Mpaluku said the pilots were flying for a Congolese company, Galaxy Kavatsi. He said the plane had taken off from the capital, Kinshasa, carrying oil and beauty products. Goma is on Congo's eastern border with Rwanda, on Lake Kivu.

ITAR-Tass reported from Georgia that the plane was owned by Georgian carrier Transaviservice. It quoted Georgia's transport ministry as saying the plane wasn't authorized to fly because its license had expired in March and had not been renewed.

Cargo planes were banned from carrying passengers after several accidents, but some continue to carry them clandestinely.

Last month, a cargo plane crashed in Kamina, in Katanga province, killing 14 people.

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