Goma: The toll from a passenger jet, which crashed into a crowded market in the Democratic Republic of Congo rose to 37 today, hospital sources said a day after the tragedy.

More than 100 people were wounded, they said. Rescue workers had recovered 21 bodies from the crash site, the chairman of the airline said yesterday.

But they had so far been unable to establish if any of the plane's passengers were among the victims, or if all those killed were on the ground at the time of the crash.

The DC-9 jet crashed into the Birere market area of Goma, the capital of the eastern province of Nord-Kivu, at around 2:30 pm (1800 IST) and burst into flames.

The plane was heading for the capital Kinshasa, but it was not clear how many passengers had disembarked at Goma.

It was the fifth fatal plane crash in DR Congo since June last year. The last was in October when a cargo aircraft ploughed into a working-class district of Kinshasa and killed at least 50 people.

UN fire crews were sent to the crash site to help put out yesterday's blaze in Goma following the crash. They have said at least seven passengers survived.
Source : PTI