Aircraft

Antonov An-26 cargo aircraft crashes in market in Kinshasa, DRC

By Barbara Cockburn

An Antonov An-26 cargo aircraft has reportedly crashed into a busy market in Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo, killing at least 17 people.

The aircraft owned by the Congolese airline Africa 1 came down in a residential area 5km from Ndili airport, in the market around 1030 (0930 GMT). 

An eye witness said the market had been full of people when the aircraft "ploughed into it". The area was full of smoke.

The BBC reported that a UN spokesman feared there were "many dead" and sent a rescue team and firefighters to the crash.

An airport official who went to the crash site said at least four houses had been set alight and that everyone in the houses and the aircraft were likely to have been killed.

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This has happened before says Flight's safety and operations editor, David Learmount

• Striking twice - Antonov An-32B crashed into Kinshasa marketplace in 1996

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