UN plane crash in Congo kills 32

Only one survivor has been confirmed among the 33 United Nations personnel and crew members aboard a plane that crashed in Congo on Monday, a UN spokesman said.

Farhan Haq said the plane crashed Monday as it was landing in the city of Kinshasa. Haq did not say exactly how many people were believed killed so it was unclear whether anyone else may have survived.  

The cause of the crash was not immediately known.  

A top Congolese aviation official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not permitted to speak to the media, said the plane had been travelling from Kisangani to Kinshasa. Earlier Monday, the Congolese aviation official had said at least 26 people had been killed and six others injured.  

The UN peacekeeping mission in New York described the craft as a small passenger plane and said it was ferrying a mix of UN personnel, including peacekeepers.

The UN mission in Congo, known as MONUSCO, includes more than 19,000 uniformed peacekeeping troops. The mission is charged with protecting civilians in the enormous Central African nation wracked by violence from myriad rebel groups and militias.  

Few passable roads traverse Congo after decades of war and corrupt rule, forcing the country's deeply impoverished people to rely on ill-maintained planes and boats to move around.

Congo has one of the worst air safety records in the world. The Central African country's safety regulations are notoriously lax.