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Cargo plane crashes in Democratic Republic of Congo, Russians among casualties

The passengers have not been yet identified

© Tony Webster/CC BY 2.0/Flickr, archive

MOSCOW, October 11. /TASS/. A military transport plane An-72, which went missing on Thursday in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), has crashed, the Congolese radio said on Friday citing the DRC civil aviation authority.

According to the radio station, there were four crew along with some civilian and military passengers, including members of DRC President Felix Tshisekedi’s staff.

In the meantime, Russia’s embassy to the DRC confirmed to TASS that Russian nationals were onboard the An-72.

"We confirm that among the crew were Russian nationals. Now we are checking into their surnames and the exact number," he said.

The Antonov-72 cargo plane took off at Goma in the DRC north, heading to the capital of Kinshasa. The plane lost contact with the control center 59 minutes after takeoff. The passengers have not been yet identified. According to military sources, the president’s driver, his personal guards and some personnel might have been onboard.

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