A plane has crashed in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo’s main city Goma, killing at least five passengers and leaving many injured.

An eye witness say the plane came down in the city centre shortly before it was due to land in a situation that could be describe as bad weather condition at the Goma airport.

A government spokesman denied rumors that people died on the ground saying the plane fell in an empty area where they were no people around.

In 2011, a plane crashed at the airport in the central city of Kisangani killing 74 people which raised a lot of concerns about the DR. Congo’s aviation system.

Last year, President Joseph Kabila’s personal adviser, Augustin Katumba, was killed in a crash in the city of Bukavu in a similar manner blamed on poor whether condition.

The crashed aircraft is a Fokker 50 owned by local company CAA and was flying in from the central mining town of Lodja when it came down in heavy rainfall amid poor visibility.

It was not immediately clear how many people were on board, and darkness hampered the rescue operation, but local residents in the area say there might be possible survivors.

The plane crashed in the centre of Goma, near the electoral commission’s building, but it did not hit any people on the ground, the city’s mayor Naasson Kubuya told the Associated Press news agency.

“The pilot managed to avoid houses, it’s a horrifying accident, the city of Goma has become a field of disasters we sympathize with the families of the deceased”, Mr. Kubuya said.

The Democratic Republic of Congo has a poor aviation system resulting in the European Union banning its airlines from flying into the European Union airspace until they upgrade and equip their aviation systems.

Issaka Adams / NationalTurk Africa News

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