At least 27 people were killed when a small plane crashed into a crowded residential area in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo city of Goma on Sunday, a rescue official said.
The plane belonging to the company "Bee B" crashed shortly after takeoff on a flight to the city of Beni, about 250 km north of Kivu, the office of Carly Nzanzo Kasivita, governor of North Kivu province, said in a statement.
An airline official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the 19-seat Dornier 228-200 plane had 16 passengers and two crew on board.
Joseph Makunde, coordinator of rescue services in Goma, told Reuters that 27 bodies had been recovered from the wreckage, including the bodies of a number of people killed by the falling debris.
The airline has three aircraft used for destinations in North Kivu.
One of the company's maintenance workers, who was at the site, reported a "technical problem" on the plane, according to the site "Actualité."
MONUC sent two fire engines to help local rescue teams.
The plane was heading for Beni, one of the epicenter of the Ebola epidemic that killed more than 2,000 people last year, about 350 km north of Goma.
Aviation accidents are relatively frequent in Congo due to lax safety standards and poor maintenance. All domestic airlines, including Busy Be, are banned from operating in Europe.
A cargo plane that took off from the airport itself crashed an hour after it took off in October, killing eight passengers on board.