Cargo plane crashes into Zaire market killing 250

Jet, Jan 29, 1996

More than 250 people died when a cargo plane plummeted from the air, crashing into a downtown market in Kinshasa, Zaire.

"The plane just plowed into the market," said John Escodi, the public affairs officer at the U.S. Embassy in Kinshasa. "It was the worst possible time for that market because it was very busy and it's located right at the end of the runway, across the street from the runway."

Information Minister Masegabio Nzanzu said the Plane, a Russianmade Antonov-32 twin-turboprop owned by the private cargo company African Air, had just taken off from the Ndolo airport in Kinshasa when it fell to the ground. It skidded more than 300 feet before it came to a halt, destroying everything in its path from cars to market stalls.

The official cause of the crash has not been determined. But a Zairian Air Force colonel who was at the airport said the plane appeared to be overloaded. Witnesses said the plane clearly had difficulty taking off.

The dead filled the city's four main hospitals. The largest state-run-hospital in Kinshasa, Mama Yemo, had to turn away victims because it lacked equipment and medical supplies.

Doctors pleaded with citizens to help those who had managed to survive the deadly incident.

"Bring your blood to save the injured. They need us to survive, "Dr. Maholo Pelagie of the Kinshasa blood bank said on state radio.

Four Russian crew members survived the crash, but barely escaped an angry mob who tried to lynch them at a clinic where they were treated for minor injuries.

Mukenge Bisumbule, Zaire's state Prosecutor, said the police took the crew into custody and were looking for other crew members from Ukraine and Zaire.

"The crew have been kept for their Own safety," he said.