Congolese airplane crash kills at least 53

KINSHASA, Democratic Republic of Congo - Fifty-three people are believed to be dead after a Boeing 727 plane carrying 112 on board crashed as it tried to land in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo on Friday, an airline official said.

"Fifty-three dead, that is the latest figure I have," Stavros Papaioannou, chief executive of the Congolese Hewa Bora Airline, told Reuters by telephone, while cautioning that the toll was likely to be revised.

The plane, carrying 112 people, crashed as it tried to land at Kisangani International Airport in the Democratic Republic of Congo, according to the airline.