Angola locates plane that crashed in storm, killing seven people

LUANDA: A plane that crashed in a remote corner of Angola last week killing all seven people onboard was downed by bad weather, authorities said.

The Brazilian- built Embraer aircraft operated by Air Guicango and bound for Luanda crashed on Thursday after taking off from Dundo in the northeast near the Congolese border according to Angola’s fire service.

“We have found the wreckage of the plane and the bodies of the seven victims, we are continuing to look for the black box flight recorders,” rescue chief Pedro Goncalves told local media.

Rescuers located the stricken aircraft and the victims in lake Nacarumbo, close to the community of Cuilo on Sunday, said Goncalves.

“Investigations are ongoing but I can already say that the aircraft was struck by lightning on the right wing, which caused an engine fire,” he added.

The aircraft was an Embraer 120, which according to the manufacturer can have up to 30 seats.

The victims were a Portuguese fireman, a South African national, while the other two passengers and all three members of the crew were Angolan, officials said.

Angola has a poor air safety record and all of the oil-rich African country’s airlines are banned from operating within the European Union except for the flag- carrier TAAG. — AFP