United Nations Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo (Kinshasa)
Eoin Young
16 April 2008
Mr. Ross Mountain, Deputy Special Representative of the UN Secretary General in the DRC, said that MONUC expressed its "sadness and sympathy" to the many victims and their families, after the Hewa Bora Airways DC-9 plane crashed into the Birere quarter of Goma in eastern DRC on 15 April 2008.
At the MONUC weekly press conference of 16 April 2008, Mr. Mountain explained that UN peacekeepers and fire personnel arrived at the scene "within 10 to 15 minutes" of the crash. UN medical staff also helped treat and evacuate the wounded.
Many were left dead and wounded when the plane crashed into the densely populated Birere quarter of Goma, although exact figures cannot be fully verified.
"It seems that the majority of deaths are from those that were in the houses which surround the airport, but we also heard that many passengers were able to exit alive from the plane," Mr. Mountain explained.
While MONUC is doing all it can to assist the crash victims, there are also many others.
"The humanitarian community is doing much to assist, it is not only MONUC but OCHA, UNICEF, WHO and also the NGOs of MSF France and the International Red Cross which are working closely with the Congolese Red Cross and the local authorities," Mr. Mountain explained.
Although the cause of the crash is unknown, MONUC personnel assisting the authorities to secure the accident scene have found the plane's black box, which Mr. Mountain said is "capital for the investigation."
Mr. Mountain added that there had been "too many air accidents already in the DRC."
"We hope that there will be fewer accidents in the future. Unfortunately there is much to repair in the country. It is necessary to look at how the regulations can be reinforced, it is a question of management of the planes, of maintenance for the airports, there's a lot of work to be done," he concluded.
The latest crash figures are 40 dead, with more than a hundred wounded.
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