Seventeen people were killed when a Let L-410 aircraft operated by Tracep Congo Aviation crashed near Kenge in Kwango province in the south-western Democratic Republic of Congo. The plane was carrying a military justice delegation on a flight from Kikwit to Kinshasa when it developed a technical problem and went down in a residential area before catching fire.
Among the dead were two senior military justice officials, Lt. Gen. Joseph Mutombo and Lt. Gen. Lucien-René Likulia. The death toll was revised upward from 13 after recovery teams found 16 adult bodies and one baby, while authorities opened an investigation into the cause of the accident.
The aircraft was identified as a Let L-410 UVP Turbolet, a light twin-engine type used on short regional routes. Officials also moved to suspend Tracep Congo Aviation’s operations pending the inquiry, as investigators examined why the crew attempted to land in Kenge despite the lack of a usable landing strip.