Three killed in plane crash in eastern Congo

GOMA, Democratic Republic of Congo (Reuters) -Three people died in a plane crash in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo's South Kivu province on Thursday, provincial transport minister Alimasi Malumbi Mathieu said.

The plane went down around 15 km (9 miles) from the town of Shabunda, killing two crew members and one passenger. Six people were on board and there may be survivors, Mathieu said.

Emergency services have been dispatched to the site to assist any survivors and try to determine the cause of the crash, he said.

It is not clear what company operated the flight. Earlier a representative of Malu Aviation, an airline at the airport in Goma, a city in neighbouring North Kivu province, said a plane had gone down, without giving further details.

Air accidents are common in eastern Congo. At least 27 people were killed in 2019 when a small plane crashed into a densely populated part of Goma.

(Writing by Alessandra Prentice;Editing by Edward McAllister and Giles Elgood)