CNS STORY: Two missionaries among survivors of plane crash in Congo

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CNS Story:

CONGO-CRASH Apr-16-2008 (200 words) xxxi

Two missionaries among survivors of plane crash in Congo

By Catholic News Service

ROME (CNS) -- Two Italian missionary priests were among survivors of a plane crash that left at least 21 people dead and scores injured in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Xaverian Missionary Fathers Pierfrancesco Agostinis, 39, and Pietro Rinaldi, 41, escaped from the wreckage before it burst into flames.

The DC-9 passenger jet readying for takeoff never managed to get off the ground; it crashed into a crowded market and busy residential area in the city of Goma April 15.

Father Agostinis told the Rome-based missionary news service MISNA April 15 that one of the plane's tires blew out just before liftoff, forcing the pilot to abort the takeoff. However, the runway ended and the plane rammed into a crowded market area, he said.

A representative of the private Hewa Bora airline told reporters the majority of the 85 people on board had survived, while rescue workers reported that many of those killed and injured had been on the ground when the plane failed to take off.

The plane split open upon impact, allowing many of the survivors -- including the missionaries -- to escape before flames engulfed the jet.

END

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