At least 29 people were killed Sunday when a small plane crashed after takeoff into a densely populated area of the city of Goma in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.
A survivor among the 19 people — 17 passengers and two crew members — who were aboard the plane was taken to hospital along with 16 others injured on the ground, the North Kivu regional government said.
“At this stage, 29 bodies have been found in the rubble,” the statement said.
The Busy Bee Dornier-228 smashed into two houses near the airport, the deputy transport minister Jacques Yuma Kipuya said earlier.
The first images from the scene showed smoke billowing above the neighbourhood and the aircraft in flames with local people throwing buckets of water on it.
A video seen by AFP showed the cabin of the plane still smouldering embedded in the wall of the house.
The aircraft had been headed for the city of Beni, 350 kilometres (220 miles) north of Goma, when it went down after takeoff in the residential area.
