46 Known Lost, 146 Injured

USA Today reports more bodies were found Thursday beneath an airliner that crashed into a residential neighborhood in eastern Congo earlier this week. The official death toll in the town of Goma now stands at 44, with 146 known injured.

As ANN reported, the DC-9, operated by private airline Hewa Bora, failed to gain altitude on takeoff from Goma Tuesday, and impacted a residential area adjacent to the airport.

National Assembly President Vital Kamerhe led a government visit to the crash site. He told reporters afterward more bodies will be recovered, "...especially those of brick-makers who were at a building site that is now totally buried under the plane."

In a discrepancy which has yet to be sorted out, Hewa Bora said all 79 passengers and six crewmembers survived... but Congolese officials say at least two passengers died. In any case, those reports are more encouraging than earlier estimates, which ranged anywhere from 80 to over 100 persons lost in the crash.

Both flight recorders have been recovered for analysis from the wreckage of the DC-9. International aviation regulators -- including those in the European Union, who've banned Hewa Bora from operating there -- blame deep corruption and slipshod maintenance for the Congo's dubious distinction of leading the continent in airline crashes since 1945.

FMI: www.hba.cd/