Plane crashes in Congo neighborhood

KINSHASA, Congo -- A DC-9 plane crashed Tuesday into a residential neighborhood in the eastern Congo town of Goma. It was not known how many people were on board, but an official said at least 10 had been pulled from the wreckage and taken to a hospital.

The plane faltered after takeoff and hurled into the populated neighborhood in the Central African nation, said Julien Mpaluku, the governor of the province.

The flight was headed to Kinshasa, Congo's capital, said Gauthier Iloko, the adjunct commander of the Goma airport.

"We are preoccupied with trying to save as many survivors as possible," Iloko said. "It's difficult to give a number, but there are already at least 10 survivors that were pulled out of the wreck and who were sent to the hospital."

The DC-9 is owned by Hewa Bora, a private company, Mpaluku said. Iloko said the plane's manifest had not yet been located.

The neighborhood of Birere where the plane went down is located just beyond the takeoff lane. The lane used to continue into the neighborhood but was partially destroyed by the lava that followed a 2001 volcanic eruption.

Few passable roads traverse Congo after decades of war and corrupt rule, forcing the country's deeply impoverished people to rely on boats and planes to move around.

Congo has one of the worst air safety records in the world.

One of the worst air accidents in Congo's history occurred in 1996, when an Antonov 32 turboprop crashed seconds after takeoff from Kinshasa's airport, plowing into a crowded open-air market and killing about 300 people.