This archive report was first published on 24 November 2019.
On November 24, 2019, a devastating plane crash occurred in Goma, a densely populated city in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo.
A 19-seat plane operated by Busy Bee, a private carrier, was headed for the city of Beni when it crashed shortly after takeoff into residential homes near Goma's airport in North Kivu Province.
The plane, carrying 17 passengers and two crew members, exploded after crashing, killing at least 27 people, including some on the ground, officials said.
Two people were rescued before the plane exploded, including one member of the crew, according to the National Border Health Program.
Heritier Said Mamadou, a Busy Bee airline staff member, confirmed that there were 17 passengers onboard and two crew members.
Joseph Makundi, the coordinator of rescue services in Goma, said that 27 bodies had been recovered from the rubble, including those of several people hit by falling debris.
Witnesses described the scene as chaotic, with black smoke rising from the plane and hundreds of people gathering at the scene.
The cause of the crash was not immediately clear, but Congo has one of the world's worst aviation records, with relatively frequent plane crashes caused by lax safety standards and poor maintenance.
