Congo crash: More than 30 dead in Brazzaville

“We have already pulled 32 bodies from the crash site, but there could be more victims,” the Red Cross official said, asking not to be named. Rescuers were continuing to search for victims on Saturday following Friday night’s crash.

Albert Mberi, secretary-general of the Red Cross in the Republic of Congo, said on Saturday that the dead included six Ukrainian crew members. Footage of the crash site showed damaged homes and cars.

The Soviet-made Ilyushin-76 cargo plane (the same type as pictured above) was operated by local carrier Trans Air Congo. The plane was travelling from Pointe-Noire, the commercial capital of the Central African state, when it crashed into more than a dozen houses near the airport. It was owned by a private Congolese company.

Poor aviation record

The cargo plane was travelling from Pointe-Noire, the commercial capital of the Central African state, when it crashed into more than a dozen houses near the airport. It was owned by a private Congolese company.

Congo Republic, like its neighbour the Democratic Republic of Congo, has one of the world’s poorest aviation safety records due to poor maintenance and the use of old planes banned from other skies.

In March 2011, a Soviet-made Antonov cargo plane operated by the same company crashed into houses in Pointe-Noire while attempting to land. Twenty-three died in that crash.

The wounded were evacuated to the University Hospital in the capital. There were varying reports about the crash, with some warning the death toll could rise.