Congo plane crash death toll lowered

KINSHASA, Democratic Republic of Congo, April 15 (UPI) -- A jetliner crashed shortly after takeoff Tuesday in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, killing at least 18 people, a government official said.

However, it appears as many as 66 people, including five crew members, survived, CNN reported. Earlier, a government official had told the network dozens more had died. It was unclear whether the fatalities included people on the ground, CNN said

A foreign ministry spokesman said the twin-engine aircraft crashed as it left the Goma airport, smashing into a neighborhood near the runway, shearing roofs off homes, the network reported. The Hewa Bora Airways DC-9 was traveling to Kisangani in the central portion of the country.

Hewa Bora Airways is a private airline Belgian aviation authorities recently suspended for safety violations, Congolese lawmaker and former foreign minister Antoine Ghonda said. The airline is based in Kinshasa.

Ghonda said the cause of Tuesday's crash was being investigated, but initial reports indicated the cabin was overloaded. Weather, he said, wasn't a factor.

The United Nations and Red Cross were assisting in the rescue effort, hampered by "basic, if non-existent" equipment in the country, U.N. spokesman Kemal Saiki said.