At least 19 people have been killed after cargo plane crashed and exploded in a crowded neighbourhood of Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of Congo.
According to the plane's manifest, 17 people were on board the Antonov 26 aircraft when it came down among several houses in the neighbourhood of Kingasani.
The aircraft, operated by Congolese airline Africa One, was carrying 14 Congolese passengers and three Ukrainian crew.
However due to notoriously unreliable passenger manifest totals, it is thought the actual number of people on board the plain could be higher.
The full list of casualties on the ground is as yet unknown, with early reports of two children killed..
The incident occurred shortly after the plane took off from the city's international airport, leaving debris scattered over surrounding streets and buildings.
A spokesperson for the 17,000-strong UN mission in Congo, the largest such force in the world, said it had dispatched a rescue team and firefighters to the scene.
DRC's Humanitarian Affairs Minister, Jean-Claude Muyambo, confirmed that the twin-engine plane had been headed to Tshikapa in central Kasai-Occidental province before the accident.
The Antonov 26 aircraft is typical of the ageing fleet that has become an essential part of the transport infrastructure in DR Congo.
Africa One is on an EU list of airlines banned in Europe because of safety concerns. Only one of more than 50 companies in the central African nation is exempted from that blacklist.
