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CONGO PLANE CRASH: An aircraft crashed in the city of Bandundu in the Democratic Republic of Congo on Thursday, killing 20 and injuring one. (Google Maps)
An airplane crash in the western part of the Democratic Republic of Congo has left 20 people dead, reports say on Thursday.
The plane was attempting to land in the city of Bandundu, located 125 miles west of the country’s capitol Kinshasa, and hit a house, reports the BBC.
A police chief in the area, Colonel Joli Limengo, told the news agency that most of the people on board died but it is unclear if any one on the ground was killed.
Rescue workers pulled 19 bodies from the wreckage and an injured person died soon after. The lone survivor of the accident is reported to be in critical condition.
An official in the country’s prime minister office told Reuters that “there were 20 dead and one survivor, who is fighting for his life.”
The United Nations also confirmed the airplane crash.
Reports say that the plane, operated by Filair, ran out of fuel and could not make a proper landing in time.
After years of civil war, the large African nation has underdeveloped infrastructure and roads as well as one of the worst air safety records in the world. The country uses many old Soviet airplanes that are blacklisted from flying into European airspace due to safety concerns.
