Military L-410 crash in DR Congo kills all 13 on board

A Let L-410 went down in Kenge, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, killing all 13 people on board. Tracep Congo Aviation operated the flight, a military service from Kikwit to Kinshasa. The crash happened in Kwango, a province in the southwest of the country.

The aircraft's registration was 9S-GUC, and it was bound for Kinshasa's N'Dolo Airport. Kwango Vice Governor Remy Saki Bokinda said the plane developed a technical problem and tried to land in Kenge before coming down on a residential plot. Among those on board, he said, were General Likulia Bakumi, auditor general of the Congolese army, other military personnel and civilians.

Authorities said no one on the ground was reported killed or injured. Local reporting described the aircraft circling over Kenge while the pilot looked for a place to make an emergency landing. The Congolese Press Agency put the crash in the Manzau neighbourhood of Kenge.

Local police chief Jean Pierre Negidi said inquiries into the circumstances and cause were still under way. According to a government statement, the country's aviation accident investigation authority is opening an investigation.