KINSHASA, Congo–A humanitarian aid flight carrying 17 people crashed on a ridge in eastern Congo, and the U.S.-based group that operated the route said Tuesday there appeared to be no survivors. The 21-seat Beechcraft 1900 aircraft disappeared in bad weather late Monday with two crew and 15 passengers on board, a spokeswoman for the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said.
It was located Tuesday morning, about 9 miles northwest of the airstrip at Bukavu in eastern Congo, its intended destination, Elisabeth Byrs told journalists in Geneva.
Air Serv International, which runs the twice-weekly aid delivery between Kisangani and Bukavu, said in a statement that the plane was located on a steep ridge and that helicopter surveys suggested all 17 aboard had died.
“According to the information in our possession, there were no survivors,” Amy Cathey, a manager for the Warrenton, Va.-based Air Serv in the regional capital of Goma told Congo’s U.N.-funded radio station.
The U.N. teams were “securing the site and searching for and recovering victims’ bodies,” Cathey said.
The U.N.’s Byrs said she had no confirmation of casualties.
Air Serv International describes itself as a not-for-profit aviation organization that supports humanitarian programs worldwide.
No Air Serv personnel were involved in the crash, spokeswoman Suzanne Musgrave said.
AP
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