DR Congo: Four Dead In Plane Crash

By Badylon Kawanda Bakiman A plane crash in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has left four people dead. The crashed aircraft belonged to "Malu aviation", one of the companies headquartered in Kinshasa, the capital. Matthieu Malumbi, Minister of Transport and Communication of the DRC said this device left the city of Goma (North Kivu) for the mining town of Shabunda in the neighboring province of South Kivu. “The crash took place in the village called Keisha, 15 kilometers from Shabunda. The death toll shows 4 dead: two pilots and two passengers”, the minister said, adding that there were ‘’no survivors’’. The plane had a “cargo of fuel because the territory of Shabunda is completely landlocked”, for his part, declared to the National Assembly the deputy Hilaire Kikobya, during a plenary broadcast live on state television. . “Which country can fuel be transported to?” Exclaimed the deputy, saying the aircraft “burnt out completely”. Meanwhile, Partick Muyaya, Minister of Communication and Media in the central government, told, during a press conference, that an investigation is underway to find the truth in this case. In the absence of paved roads, small planes are the main means of transporting minerals, one of the sources of funding for armed groups. The Congolese air fleet has been on the European Union's blacklist for decades because of the high number of crashes. The last plane crashes in the DRC were mainly recorded in the eastern part of the country, the stronghold of around 100 armed groups, perpetrators of a quarter of a century of violence. Last June, a Kin-Avia company aircraft crashed with three people on board, including two pilots. The plane was also to provide a link between Goma and Shabunda where gold mines are being exploited. In 2019, 29 people died in the crash of a small carrier plane that crashed on takeoff from Goma, also in the east of the country. The plane of the private Congolese company Busy Bee was carrying 17 passengers and two crew members. The provincial government at the time said there was only one survivor among 20 people on the plane.