(COLOMBO, LANKAPUVATH) –At least 27 people have died after a passenger plane crashed into houses in the city of Goma in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, local officials say.
The victims included nine people from the same family who were in one of the houses hit in the Mapendo area.
The small aircraft went down shortly after taking off from the city’s airport on Sunday morning. The cause of the crash is still unclear.
The plane was carrying 17 passengers and two crew members, officials say.
Air accidents are relatively frequent in DR Congo amid lax safety standards and poor maintenance, and all the country’s commercial carriers are banned from operating in the European Union.
