The death toll from Friday’s passenger plane crash in northeast Democratic Republic of Congo has risen to 56, the air company said.
“There are 56 bodies in the morgue (at Kisangani),” Hewa Bora Airways director Stavros Papaioannou told AFP on Saturday.
The Boeing 727 operated by Hewa Bora crashed at Kisangani airport as it attempted to land in heavy rain with 118 passengers and crew.
“The toll may rise,” said Papaioannou, with 38 people still in hospital.
The plane was on its regular commercial route from Kinshasa to Kisangani and Goma when it was hit a the storm as it approached the airport, a local administration spokesman said.
Plane accidents frequently occur in DR Congo, often blamed on ageing and poorly maintained aircraft, the flouting of safety rules and bad weather.
Each of its 50 or so airlines has been blacklisted by the European Union.
DR. Congo plane crash rises to 56
