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Monday, November 23, 2009

Plane misses runway, lands in lava

Congo crash

United Nations Mission in the Democratic Republic of Congo personnel secure a Compagnie Africaine d'Aviation plane that crashed in Goma airport / Reuters

A PLANE has landed on hardened lava after overshooting a runway in eastern Congo, injuring 20 people

Passengers onboard the plane, which was flying from Kinshasa to Goma, warned the crew of heavy clouds before the incident, United Nations-run Radio Okapi reports.

The flight, carrying 117 passengers, was operated by Compagnie Africaine d'Aviation, theAssociated Press reports.

Lava has surrounded Goma’s airport since a volcanic eruption in 2002.

A cargo plane hit the hardened lava on the airport runway in 2007, bursting into flames and killing at least eight people.

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

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