look news india
Kinshasa/New Delhi. The news of a very sad and serious plane accident has come from the Central African country Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). A plane returning from the south-western city of Kikwit to the capital Kinshasa crashed in the Kenge area after a sudden technical fault. As soon as the plane hit the ground, a massive fire broke out, due to which all 14 people on board, including two top military officers, other members of the delegation and crew members, died on the spot. The Congolese army has issued an official statement confirming this tragic incident.
The country is already grappling with internal security challenges and violence from rebel groups. At such a critical time, the untimely departure of two top generals of the armed forces together is being considered a major strategic and administrative blow for the Congolese army and government.
According to an official statement issued by Congolese army spokesman Major General Efomi Ekenge, the plane was carrying a high-level military delegation. The senior officers who lost their lives in the accident included two of the biggest faces of the country’s military judiciary and administrative system:
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Lieutenant General Mutombo Katalayi Tiende: He was serving as the head of the country’s top military court.
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Lieutenant General Bakumi Likulia (Lieutenant General Lucien-René Likulia Bakumi): He was holding the responsibility of Auditor-General of the Armed Forces of Congo.
Major General Ekenge said that apart from the two general officers, 12 other members of the delegation and the plane’s crew also died in the accident. The accident was so severe that the relief and rescue team could not get a chance to rescue anyone alive from the debris.
According to local officials and civil aviation reports, the plane was headed to the capital Kinshasa after completing its scheduled flight from the city of Kikwit. In the middle of the flight, at an altitude of thousands of feet, the plane suddenly suffered a serious technical fault. The pilots tried to take control of the situation and make an emergency landing, but the aircraft rapidly lost control and crashed in an open area near the Kenge area.
Tryphon Kin-Kie Mulumba, chairman of the board of Congo’s Civil Aviation Authority, said the exact cause of the plane crash could not be immediately known. What type of technical fault suddenly occurred in the plane will be revealed only after forensic investigation of the black box and debris. The Army has constituted a high-level inquiry commission to investigate all aspects and circumstances of the accident.
The incident comes at a time when the Congolese army is waging a fierce war against the notorious Rwanda-backed ‘M23’ rebel group and several other armed gangs in the eastern part of the country. Rebel attacks had intensified in recent months and they have tried to capture several key cities. In such a challenging security environment, the sudden death of the two top commanders of the military’s legal, audit and disciplinary structure has sent a wave of grief across the entire military structure.