The 19-seat Dornier-228-200 plane had just taken off from Goma airport at 9 o'clock in the morning and was on its way to the town of Beni, some tens of miles north. But something went wrong and the plane disturbed in a residential area nearby.

Initially, it is not known what caused the disaster.

20 on board

According to information from the privately owned airline Busy Bee, there were about 20 people on board, two of whom were the crew.

At first, everyone on board was said to have perished, but on Sunday evening there was information that an injured survivor had been taken to hospital.

Nearly 30 people died in the plane crash in Congo Kinshasa. Photo: SVT

The plane crashed into two houses near the airport, according to Congo Deputy Transport Minister Jacques Yuma Kipuya. A dozen people who were in the buildings are reported to have lost their lives.

The total number of dead is thus up to 30.

Run with water buckets

The first pictures from the accident scene show devastating residents trying to extinguish the burning plane with water in buckets.

The tail portion from the crashed Dornier plane on the roof of one of the houses in Goma. Photo: Fiston Mahamba / TT-Reuters

Aircraft accidents are relatively common in Congo-Kinshasa, where safety rules are often poorly followed and aircraft maintenance is inadequate. A cargo plane that lifted from the same airport crashed in October. All eight on board perished.

Due to the lack of security, all Congolese commercial airlines are ported from the EU.