By Naomi Schwarz
GOMA, Congo (Reuters) - A Congolese passenger planecarrying up to 70 people crashed onto a busy market districtafter taking-off at Goma in eastern Democratic Republic ofCongo on Tuesday, witnesses and U.N. officials said.
"It is a plane from the company Hewa Bora with 60 to 70passengers on board," Kemal Saiki, spokesman for the U.N.mission in Congo, told Reuters.
A witness in Goma, the capital of eastern North Kivuprovince, said the Boeing 727 came down on a busy marketstreet.
"Half of the plane has broken off. There is a fire towardsthe back. People are coming with buckets of water to put outthe fire. The U.N. is here trying to keep back the crowds," thewitness said.
"It destroyed a building. The two buildings next door areblackened," she added.
Goma residents reported hearing a big explosion and seeinga large plume of smoke.
There was no immediate information on casualties.
Another U.N. official had initially described the aircraftas a Boeing 727 transport plane.
"I can confirm there has been a crash. I can see the smokefrom my office window," the official, who asked not to benamed, told Reuters by telephone from Goma.
Democratic Republic of Congo, a vast country the size ofwestern Europe with only a few hundred kilometres (miles) ofpaved roads, has one of the world's worst aviation safetyrecords.
There were eight plane crashes in the country last year,including one in the capital Kinshasa in which an Antonov 26plunged into a crowded neighbourhood, killing more than 50people.
(For full Reuters Africa coverage and to have your say onthe top issues, visit: http://africa.reuters.com/)
(Additional reporting and writing by Nick Tattersall andPascal Fletcher; editing by Matthew Tostevin)
