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DR Congo

DR Congo: Airplane crash in Goma OCHA Situation Report No. 1

  • An airplaine crashed during take-off in Goma on 15 April at 12h40 GMT

- 36 deaths and 146 hospitalized have been registered so far

- Medical assistance is ongoing

- No additional needs for medicaments or surorgical material Pas de besoins supplémentaires en médicaments ou matériel médicochirurgical exprimés

Context

A DC-9 airplane that was chartered by the Congolese 'Hewa Bora' Airline crashed into a highly populated neighborhood in Goma (Birere) during take-off on Tuesday, 15 April 2008 at 12h40 (14h40 local time).
Mr. Joseph Kabila, the President of DRC, instructed an inquiry into the circumstances of the accident.

Preliminary Findings

Several, contradictory passenger lists are in circulation and hamper the identification of victims. The total number of passengers that were aboard the plane is still unknown.

A preliminary assessment counted 36 dead and 146 hospitalized (this assessment was conducted by the Provincial Health Inspection authorities which surveyed hospitals in Goma on 16 April 2008, at 8h local time). The victims consist of passengers as well as of persons that were present on the ground at the time of the accident. It is further estimated that a certain number of passengers left the accident scene without presenting themselves to hospitals and could thus not be registered.

Burns, fractures and concussions constitute the main types of injuries. Several victims suffer from third degree burns. Most of the lightly injured have already left the hospital.

Medical Response

- The injured were accommodated in six hospitals in Goma (Provincial Hospital of Goma, General Hospital CBCA of Virunga, Heal Africa, Maternal Charity, MONUC Level III hospital, and Health Center of Kahembe).

- The main health partners present in Goma, the ICRC, Merlin, MSF-France, MSF-Netherlands and the UN agencies UNFPA, UNICEF and WHO have reacted immediately and provided medicine and surgical equipment to the six hospitals mentioned above. This support has enabled the rapid provision of assistance to the victims.

- Anesthetic material, vaccination doses (hepatitis B and tetanus), bedding, stretchers and body bags were further provided to the hospitals through various health partners.

- MSF-France provided a General Anesthetic and a Surgeon to support the medical team at the Provincial Hospital of Goma.

- The Provincial Health Inspection provided the six hospitals with surgical material.

- The Provincial Health Inspection further contacted blood banks in Goma and requested them to mobilize voluntary donors.

- A MONUC helicopter was procured from Bukavu (South Kivu) for the transport of medical material and body bags.

- The humanitarian air transportation NGO Air Serv provided stand-by flights for potential medical evacuations to Entebbe (Uganda), Kigali (Rwanda) and Nairobi (Kenya).

- The victims received rapid assistance due to the support of the various partners. No particular need for medicine or medical equipment has been expressed by the partners.

For further information please contact :

Christophe Illemassene, Public Information and Advocacy Manager, Kinshasa, OCHA-DR Congo
Email: illemassene@un.org, Tel: +243 (0) 819 889 195

Caroline Draveny, Public Information Officer, North Kivu, OCHA-DR Congo
Email: draveny@un.org, Tel: +243 (0) 819 889 157

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