One Survivor, 32 Killed In UN Congo Crash

Emergency workers gather at the scene of the crash in Kinshasa.

The United Nations has announced that there has been one confirmed survivor of a plane crash in the Democratic Republic Of Congo in which 32 other people, including UN personnel and peacekeepers, were killed.

The crash on April 4 in Kinshasa is being described as one of the worst disasters ever involving the transportation of UN personnel.

The operator of the plane, Airzena Georgian Airways, said the crew was Georgian.

Witnesses said the plane, which had flown from the city of Kisangani, broke up when it hit the runway while attempting to land at Kinshasa airport amid heavy rain.

Details about the condition of the survivor were not immediately available, and the nationalities of those killed were not immediately released.

The cause of the crash was not immediately clear.

The UN mission in Congo, known as MONUSCO, includes more than 19,000 peacekeeping troops. It is charged with protecting civilians in the conflict-torn country from violations of human rights and humanitarian law.

compiled from agency reports