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TechnoratiDRC plane crash kills 20
The death toll following a plane crash in DR Congo Wednesday stands at 20 people after a local airliner crashed while trying to land in the west of the country, reportedly having run out of fuel.
Two survivors were pulled from the wreckage but one later died in hospital.
An official of Kinshasa's small city-centre Ndolo airport, from which the flight took off, confirmed the crash, but did not provide any additional information.
The Filair Let-410 twin turboprop crashed after failing to land at Bandundu after a flight from the capital Kinshasa, and apparently running out of fuel.
The owner of the private airline Filair, Belgian Daniel Philemotte, was at the controls and was among those killed, along with the co-pilot and stewardess.
After an abortive attempt to land, the aircraft turned away and crashed towards the edge of Bandundu city, hitting a house whose residents had managed to flee in time.
DR Congo's aviation sector, which is littered with ageing Soviet-era planes, is generally viewed as being in a chronic state of disrepair and crashes are frequent.
All of the country's registered airlines have been placed on a European Union blacklist, banning them from flying into European airspace.
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