Goma (Democratic Republic of Congo): A passenger plane that ploughed into a market in an eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) town killed 40 people, the provincial governor said today, as rescue workers scoured the debris.

"The toll from this accident is now 40 dead and 111 injured," said Nord-Kivu's governor, Julen Paluku.

He was speaking after visits to hospitals and clinics in Goma, capital of the eastern province.

More than 100 injured people, mostly residents of the Birere shanty town, were being treated in three Goma hospitals. Some of the patients had suffered severe burns from the blazing aircraft.

The black box flight recorder from the DC-9 plane had been recovered from yesterday's crash site in Goma's Birere district, Paluku added. The crash site lies at the end of the runway where the pilot had tried to take off.

Normally bustling trade in Birere was halted today.

The speaker of the DRC s National Assembly, Vital Kamerhe, left the capital Kinshasa for Goma in the morning, heading delegation of government ministers and lawmakers set up after the crash.

President Joseph Kabila has ordered a probe into the fifth fatal plane crash in the DRC since last June. Most of the others have involved ageing Soviet-era aircraft.

The cause of the accident remained unclear, but aviation sources said it appeared that the plane had developed engine trouble, skidded on water on the runway and the pilot had lost control.

Source : PTI