Finance minister of DR Congo died in plane crash

Feb 13, 2012, 21:07 GMT

Montevideo - Three people, including the country's finance minister and a senior presidential aide, died in a plane crash at Bukavu airport in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

The Uruguayan Air Force, which manages Bakavu airport as part of the MONUSCO UN peacekeeping mission, confirmed the deaths in a statement late Sunday.

Finance Minister Matato Ponyo Mapo had earlier been reported to have been seriously injured when the private plane overshot the runway while trying to land on Sunday.

Augustin Katumba Mwanke - a former businessman with ties to the mining industry who became a powerful aide to President Joseph Kabila - also died in the crash, as did the plane's co-pilot, Uruguayan authorities said. Mwanke had also belonged to the inner-circle of Kabila's father and predecessor, Laurent Kabila.

Uruguayan forces, of which there are over 1,000 in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, took part in the rescue, which involved the use of chain saws and other heavy-duty equipment to release the pilot from the wreckage.

According to earlier reports, two government officials including the governor of the South Kivu province, were injured in the crash.

According to reports, a UN panel of experts in 2002 alleged that Mwanke was involved in corrupt deals that amounting to plundering DR Congo's vast mineral resources. After being fired from his government job, he returned as an aide to the president.

Kabila, aged 40, was declared the winner of presidential elections held on November 28, but the opposition have said the vote was rigged. He has been in power since 2001, when he took over from his assassinated father.

DR Congo is notorious for its air safety record. In April 2011, a UN plane crashed in the country killing at least 32 people.