An airplane has crashed near an airport in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, killing dozens of people, local officials say.

The incident took place on Monday near Goma airport in North Kivu Province when a Fokker belonging to the private airline CAA went down before landing at the airport.

“We don't yet know the number of victims because we're still looking to get the (passenger) manifest from Lodja. But we estimate there could be between 30 and 50 deaths,” Julien Paluku, governor of North Kivu province, said following the incident.


The plane was coming from the town of Lodja in East Kasai Province in the center of the African country and tried to land during heavy rain, he added.

In December 2012, at least 20 people were killed and 14 others injured after a cargo plane went down near the airport in Brazzaville, the capital of the country.

Africa has some of the worst air safety records in the world.

As many as 153 people were killed on June 3, 2012 when a passenger jet crashed into a two-story building in Lagos, Nigeria’s largest city.