GOMA, Nov 6 — The remains of a cargo plane missing with three people on board were found in a national park in the Democratic Republic of Congo yesterday, an airport source told AFP.
The Goma Express plane had been missing since Thursday. Its remains “were finally found this Saturday morning... in the middle of Kahuzi-Biega National Park,” a source from the airport in Bukavu, capital of the province of South Kivu, told AFP.
The aircraft took off on Thursday with three people on board including two crew members — a Ukrainian pilot and a Ugandan co-pilot — plus one passenger and goods, he said.
The fate of the three people was not yet known.
The plane took off from Kasese airport in eastern Maniema province for Goma, the capital of North Kivu province.
Due to bad weather, the pilot tried “without success” to land at Kavumu airport in Bukavu, the source told AFP.
The Kahuzi-Biega National Park is home to the last remaining eastern lowland gorillas and extends over 6,000 square kilometres.
Small planes are the main means of transporting basic necessities and minerals in the landlocked area of eastern DRC, which is home to dozens of armed groups.
In 2020, all four passengers were killed when another small plane crashed in the park. — AFP
