Plane crashes into DR Congo city At least nine people were killed when an airliner ploughed into a commercial area during take-off in Goma in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
It appears the plane skidded in wet weather, smashing through a wall and catching fire. Most of the 85 people aboard survived, doctors say.
Early reports had spoken of dozens of bodies found at the scene.
The DC-9 was chartered by private airline Hewa Bora and had been en route to Kisangani in central DR Congo.
DR Congo has one of the world's poorest air safety records with eight crashes in 2007, Reuters news agency notes.
A third of the runway at Goma's airport was affected by a lava flow from a volcanic eruption that occurred there six years ago.
This makes Goma a particularly difficult spot for take-off, local sources in the aviation industry say.
Buckets of water
Nine people were killed as a result of the crash, United Nations staff and regional governor Julien Mpaluku said.
UN staff who visited two local hospitals found 55 injured plane passengers, six of them in a serious condition.
Reports say the plane never really left the ground and most passengers were able to escape after the crash before fire took hold.
It is still unclear if any of those killed or injured were on the ground in the Birere district at the time.
A plume of black smoke rose above the area which is home to small shops and restaurants.
"People are coming with buckets of water to put out the fire," a witness told Reuters.
"The [United Nations] is here trying to keep back the crowds."
The witness added that one building had been destroyed and two others were charred by the fire.
The business district of Birere is the beating heart of the city, the BBC's Arnaud Zajtman says.
Doctors' strike
British MP Eric Joyce, who heads the Commons all-party group on the Great Lakes region of Africa, witnessed the scenes at a hospital about a mile from the crash site.
"The injuries seem to be primarily people on the aircraft but it's very hard to tell," he told the BBC.
"Certainly a lot of people around here have been affected, there are lots of relatives and casualties coming in.
"The problem appears to be that there aren't enough vehicles to get everyone out."
Mr Joyce added doctors in the city had been holding a strike on Tuesday
"So I think doctors will be making their way to the hospitals but at the moment but they may not have all been in the hospitals when this crash took place," he said.
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Ter Abr 15, 2008 12:44 pm
