A bishop of the Catholic Church in eastern Democratic Republic
of Congo (DRC) was among those believed killed in an air crash on July
8.
Mgr Camille Lambi Zaneli was the bishop of Isangi diocese,
some 200km west of Kisangani city.
About 118 people were reported on board when the crash happened, with two of the dead – Palos Lolwako and Katembo Mahembe – being prominent businessmen from the city of Butembo.
About 118 people were reported on board when the crash happened, with two of the dead – Palos Lolwako and Katembo Mahembe – being prominent businessmen from the city of Butembo.
The cities of Kisangani, Butembo and Goma are engulfed in mourning following the crash.
President Joseph Kabila has since flown to Kisangani and four days of national mourning declared.
Initial reports said that 45 passengers were rescued alive.
The Being 727 belonging to Hewa Bora airlines was flying
from Kinshasa when it crashed in a swamp as it approached Kisangani’s
Bangboka airport.
“The weather was so bad that we suggested the pilot to divert the flight to the cities of Goma or Bukavu, but he insisted on landing in Bangboka,” a flight control technician at Kisangani told a local UN radio reporter.
Hewa Bora chief executive Stavros Papaioannou declined to give details to reporters and relatives of the passengers. In Kinshasa where the aircraft departed from, the doors of the airline’s offices remained closed when anxious inquirers went to seek information after the crash.
National airspace
Local Red Cross groups told reporters that it had been difficult to reach the crash area because it was located in dense equatorial forest.
“When we reached the crash area, we found the aircraft broken into various pieces. The rear part was burning, enclosing some passengers who were trapped inside,” one Red Cross official said.
Congo has one of the worst air safety records in the world. In April 2008, another Hewa Bora aircraft, a DC-9, crashed on take-off in Goma, killing about 60 people.
On April 2011, a UN aircraft crashed as it approached Kinshasa’s Ndjili Airport, killing 30 people.
Air travel in DRC has been monopolised by private operators, who inherited the national airspace when the Air Zaire, which had a relatively good safety record, collapsed due to mismanagement during Mobutu Sese Seko’s regime.
“I get very saddened every time I hear that a DRC aircraft has crashed. This is due to the negligence of private companies who took over the national air space. Nowadays, anybody can own an aircraft and carry people without any safety or guarantee,” Kag Kahindo, a former Air Zaire pilot, complained upon the news of the latest Hewa Bora accident.
In Butembo, shops and markets closed to mourn Mr Lolwako and Mr Mahembe. The two had been at the centre of transactions with authorities in Kinshasa to install hydropower equipment in the city.
Despite being a vast commercial centre, hosting some 800,000 to 1 million people, Butembo has no electricity or running water.
Among those feared dead in the crash were several officials of the DRC National Football League.
League matches scheduled for last weekend in Kisangani, Kinshasa, Lubumbashi and Matadi were cancelled.