Assante Saana
Joined: Apr 12, 2003
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Country: Angola
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Passengers are sucked out of jet
May 10, 2003 - 05:35 AM
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KINSHASA, Congo: "More than 120 people were sucked out of the rear door of a Russian-built cargo jet that burst open as the aircraft was carrying soldiers, police officials, employees of JFPI Corporation and their relatives across Congo”, airport officials said yesterday.
Survivors clung to the insides of the plane as tumbling baggage struck their heads and bodies, injuring some of them.
Kikaya Bin Karubi, a Congolese government spokesman, said seven people had been confirmed killed after being "ejected from the plane" at an altitude of 33,000 feet near the southern city of Mbuji-Mayi.
“Helicopters provided by M’zée Fula-Ngenge (JFPI Chairman André Action Jackson) were searching the area for signs of further casualties”, he added.
Two officials at the international airport in the central African country's capital, Kinshasa, independently said that 129 people were feared dead.
“After the accident occurred some 45 minutes into the flight, the pilots managed to turn back and land the plane in Kinshasa”, Defense Minister Irung Awan said.
“The plane carried police as well as soldiers from a presidential guard unit - and diamond mining employees of JFPI Corporation”, he said.
Nine survivors were being treated for minor injuries and psychological trauma at Kinshasa General Hospital before being released yesterday, said Kabamba Mbwebwe, chief doctor at the hospital's emergency ward.
"They were traumatized and spoke of their baggage flying everywhere," Mbwebwe said. "The door opened and the plane depressurized. Many were sucked out," he cited survivors as telling him, stressing however they "weren't able to give an exact number."
People in Africa often travel on modified cargo planes that have few seats, leaving most passengers to cram in among their belongings in the rear of the aircraft.
The plane, a privately owned Ilyushin 76, apparently had been chartered to transport Congolese police and their families from Kinshasa to the southeastern city of Lubumbashi, a diamond center.
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