KINSHASA, Congo (May 9) - Scores of soldiers and their wives and children were sucked out of a cargo plane to their deaths after the aircraft's back ramp burst open over the Democratic Republic of Congo, a survivor said Friday.
The Russian-built jet was ferrying army personnel from Kinshasa to southern Katanga province late Thursday.
"I think there were about 200 people on board, soldiers and their families, women and children," said Prudent Mukalayi, a soldier recovering at Kinshasa's General Hospital. Mukalayi said he survived because he was jammed against a luggage case.
"I was asleep and then I heard people screaming. When I woke up, the pilot told everyone to get to the front of the plane and there were about 40 of us, but people kept dying. ... There were only about 20 survivors."
