Plane Crash in Congo Kills at Least 18

Rescue workers pulled at least 18 bodies from the rubble, officials said. Two people were rescued before the plane exploded, witnesses said. It was unclear how many others on the ground were killed or injured.

The plane, operated by the local carrier Busy Bee, was headed for the city of Beni, about 155 miles to the north, when it crashed shortly after takeoff, according to the office of Gov. Carly Nzanzu Kasivita of North Kivu.

Congo has one of the world’s worst aviation records, with relatively frequent plane crashes caused by lax safety standards and poor maintenance. All Congolese commercial carriers, including Busy Bee, are banned from operating in the European Union.

In October, a cargo plane departing from the same airport crashed an hour after takeoff, killing all eight passengers. The plane, an Antonov An-72 transport aircraft, crashed in a forest and broke apart upon landing.

That aircraft, carrying President Félix Tshisekedi’s driver, a logistics manager and soldiers, was headed from Goma to the capital, Kinshasa, and went off radar an hour after departing, the Civil Aviation Authority said in a statement at the time. An armored vehicle used by the president had also been on board.