Togo sports minister among 21 dead in helicopter crash

Jun 4, 2007, 11:10 GMT

Freetown/Nairobi - At least 21 people including Togo's minister for sport were killed when a helicopter shuttling passengers to the international airport in the capital of Sierra Leone caught fire as it came in to land, reports said Monday.

One of two Ukrainian pilots survived Sunday's accident after jumping out of the burning helicopter, but he was believed to be in critical condition, Ukrainian UT-1 television news reported.

Most of the passengers were Togolese, who were returning to the airport after watching Togo play Sierra Leone in an Africa Cup of Nations football match in the capital of the West African state, Freetown.

None of the national team members were said to be on the flight but Togo's Sports Minister Richard Attipoe was killed in the crash, according to Sierra Leone's Standard Times newspaper.

The Russia-manufactured MiG-8 cargo helicopter was operated by a Nigerian air transport company called Paramount Airlines, the Interfax news agency reported.

Lungi International Airport is located across a stretch of water from Freetown and travellers must take a helicopter or boat to reach it.

Africa has one of the world's worst records for flight crashes. A Kenya Airways crash in Cameroon last month killed all 114 people on board.