An Antonov An-26 cargo aircraft has reportedly crashed into a busy market in Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of Congo, killing at least 17 people.
The aircraft owned by the Congolese airline Africa 1 came down in a residential area 5km from Ndili airport, in the market around 1030 (0930 GMT).
An eye witness said the market had been full of people when the aircraft "ploughed into it". The area was full of smoke.
The BBC reported that a UN spokesman feared there were "many dead" and sent a rescue team and firefighters to the crash.
An airport official who went to the crash site said at least four houses had been set alight and that everyone in the houses and the aircraft were likely to have been killed.
Antonov An-26 cargo aircraft crashes in market in Kinshasa
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Antonov An-26 cargo aircraft crashes in market in Kinshasa
Airplanes usually kill you quickly - a woman takes her time.
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Striking twice - Antonov 32B crashed into Kinshasa market place in 1996
This has happened before in Kinshasa, reports Flight International's safety and operations editor. He pointed to Flight's safety review for the first six months of 1996.
He reported at the time that "perhaps the most shocking accident this year (1996) is one for which the scale is not reflected in the graph, because most of the deaths occurred not in the aircraft, but on the ground.
"Never in the history of aviation, however, have so many people on the ground been killed by a crashing aeroplane. Nearly 300 people in a shantytown market outside Kinshasa, Zaire, were killed when the captain of an Antonov An-32B made a late decision to abort the take-off, and the aircraft overran the runway and ploughed through the crowds on market day.
Poor airline safety in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has resulted in aircraft registered there being banned from the European Union.
This has happened before in Kinshasa, reports Flight International's safety and operations editor. He pointed to Flight's safety review for the first six months of 1996.
He reported at the time that "perhaps the most shocking accident this year (1996) is one for which the scale is not reflected in the graph, because most of the deaths occurred not in the aircraft, but on the ground.
"Never in the history of aviation, however, have so many people on the ground been killed by a crashing aeroplane. Nearly 300 people in a shantytown market outside Kinshasa, Zaire, were killed when the captain of an Antonov An-32B made a late decision to abort the take-off, and the aircraft overran the runway and ploughed through the crowds on market day.
Poor airline safety in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has resulted in aircraft registered there being banned from the European Union.
Airplanes usually kill you quickly - a woman takes her time.
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