UN plane crashes in Congo, kills 32

One passenger survived when a United Nations aeroplane crashed in the Coucapital Kinshasa during bad weather killing the 32 people on board, according to officials.

Eyewitnesses described how the plane hit the ground hard while attempting to land during heavy rains and strong winds then split in two and burst into flames.

Video footage showed pieces of fuselage, wings, wheels and a blackened tail fin scattered across the grass and runway at the airport in the Congolese capital.

The plane, a Bombardier jet, had flown from the eastern city of Goma via Kisangani on the banks of the Congo river.

Air accidents are common in Congo, which has an appalling air safety record, but they rarely involve UN aircraft.

For this reason many of the aid workers and journalists who visit the country choose to fly with the UN rather than taking their chances with the host of sketchy local commercial airlines.

The UN said that 20 of its employees were killed, including both Congolese and foreign nationals. Members of the Georgian crew were also among the dead. Officials refused to identify the lone survivor.