At least 74 people died in the accident last Friday, a Boeing 727 from the Congolese private company Hewa Bora Airways, Kisangani, in north-eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The search continued till Saturday and the Red Cross has found 28 new bodies in the rubble, increasing the first record that was 56 victims, 53 for some sources.
Teams from the Red Cross worked in difficult conditions until 02:00 am (0:00 GMT) Saturday to evacuate the wounded and clear the body from the carcass, and then again from 5:30, then finding 28 more bodies.
According to Dr. Jean-Marc Mambimbi, medical inspector of the Eastern Province, which has Kisangani as the capital city, more than forty injured were still hospitalized Saturday morning in different health facilities in the city.
The plane was carrying “112 passengers, with two hostesses, a mechanic and three pilots,” according to the director of Hewa Bora, Stavros Papaioannou. “The crew members died, except the two hostesses who were injured,” he added.
Officials of Linafoot killed in the crash
Five officials of the National Football League (Linafoot) died in the crash, which occurred at the Bangboka airport in Kisangani, reports, moreover, the daily “The News of Brazzaville.” This is Chic Tshimuanga, the Commissioner in Mafuta match, the referee Richard Mahungu, his first assistant Mpande from the Football League in Kinshasa and his second assistant Fiston Mayabuana from League of Bas-Congo. They should officer yesterday at the Lumumba stadium in Kisangani, the match of the nineth day of the final round of the 16th national football championship between Tout solide Malekesa and Tout Puissant Mazembe of Lubumbashi.
Mr Papaioannou denied a review of 127 deaths given Friday by the Congolese Ministry of Transport to certain media. “This is ridiculous, the ability of the aircraft is 114 seats, plus the crew,” he said.
To recall, the accident took place at the aircraft landing in Kisangani, in heavy rain. The device, which liaised regularly Kinshasa-Kisangani, Goma (east), “crashed into the forest a few hundred meters beyond the runway”, had said Friday night Stavros Papaioannou, director of the company.
The Congolese government has declared three days of national mourning to honor the 74 victims of plane crash. President Joseph Kabila went with four ministers, to the bedside of the wounded at the hospital in Kisangani. Some have been repatriated to Kinshasa.
Local authorities, MONUSCO (United Nations Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo), Doctors Without Borders and the Congolese Red Cross mobilized themselves to assist survivors. Thirty survivors were admitted to the Bangladeshi contingent medical center of Monusco for first aid. The injured were transported to clinics in the city.
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