Plane overshoots runway, hits lava rock

Reuters

PLANE HITS LAVA ROCK: A plane in the Congo overshot a runway and hit remnants of a 2002 volcanic eruption, injuring 20 people.

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A passenger plane has overshot a runway, landing in hardened lava surrounding an airport in eastern Congo and injuring 20 people.

The plane had been flying from Kinshasa to Goma and passengers had warned the crew that there were heavy clouds, UN-run radio station Radio Okapi reported.

An official from the UN mission in Congo said there were 117 passengers aboard. They included the governor of North Kivu province, who was not hurt.

The plane was operated by CAA (Compagnie Africaine d'Aviation).

A 2002 volcanic eruption sent lava oozing onto Goma's runway, truncating it from more than 3km to less than 1.5 km. Authorities have not removed all of the lava rock.

A cargo plane burst into flames after hitting hardened lava on the airport runway in 2007, killing at least eight.

And in April 2008, a DC-9 rammed into a bustling market after failing to lift off from the airport, killing at least 40 people, mostly on the ground.

Congo has experienced more fatal plane crashes than any other African country since 1945, according to the Aviation Safety Network.

However, flying remains one of the more dependable ways to cross the vast country, which is bigger than Western Europe and has only 500km of paved roads.

- AP