January 8, 1996
Web posted at: 12:45 p.m EST (1745 GMT)
KINSHASA, Zaire (CNN) -- At least 250 people may have died when an African Air cargo plane crashed into a crowded street market and, minutes later, burst into flames.
An official from the International Red Cross said at least 217 bodies have been found so far. Most of the victims were women and children shopping at the market, made up of corrugated iron and wooden shacks.
Vincent Nicod of the Red Cross said the Antonov 32 cargo plane manned by a Russian crew apparently "missed the takeoff" and crashed into the market, located in the center of Zaire's capital.
"The plane did catch fire," Nicod said. "It's a nightmare there." (254K AIFF sound or 254K WAV sound)
The four Russian crew members survived and were in police custody, Reuters reported. The market is said to be located just across the street from the end of the runway of the small domestic Ndolo airport.
Nicod said between 40 and 60 injured people were treated at the scene but rescue efforts had been hampered by people who descended on the downtown airport in search of their relatives.
"Many of the bodies were mutilated," a Reuters news agency correspondent said. "The plane plowed through the market for about 330 feet before it came to a halt. It is still belching flames and clouds of black smoke."
A fire crew from the airport rushed to the scene and tried to dampen the flames. Smoking wreckage from the aircraft was strewn across the site.
A Zairian air force colonel at the airport told Reuters that the plane appeared to be overloaded. Witnesses said it got only a few yards off the ground before crashing.
Last month a Lockheed Electra passenger plane owned by a private Zairian firm went down in Angola killing 141 people. Zaire's transport minister said he believed it was overloaded.
The Zaire pilots association at the time complained of the poor civil aviation regulations in the country.
With the road network in Zaire in shambles, private airline companies have sprouted up as the most viable means of transportation in the vast Central African country.
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