Plane Crash – Wreckage of the Congolese Plane Found

In a press conference, the Minister of Communication yesterday said the plane crashed within Congolese territory with no survival retrieved yet.

The wreckage of the Congolese aircraft type Casa C212, registered TNAFA, which was said to be missing since last Saturday, June 19, have been found in the jungle of the Congolese territory some 10 kilometres from the borders of Cameroon. The Minister of Communication, Issa Tchiroma Bakary told national and international pressmen that around 2:00 p.m. yesterday afternoon the site of the tragedy was located and identified thanks to an intensive research team put in place by the Head of State and other parties. “But I can not say with exactitude if there is any survival in the crash”, Minister Issa Tchiroma noted. However, the Minister of communication expressed fear that maybe all the eleven people on board the plane have died but insisted that he cannot confirm the information since only between 8-9 corpses have been retrieved.

The tragic news of the Congolese plane which had on board nine passengers and two crew members amongst which were six Australians, two British, two French citizens and one American left pressman anxious as they questioned to know what might have caused the crash of the Casa C212 which left the Yaounde-Nsimalen International Airport at 9:13 (local time) on that fateful Saturday heading for Yangadou in the North-West of Congo Brazzaville and was expected to land at 10:20 a.m. (local time) but got missing around 9:51 a.m. when communication between the plane and the control towel in Congo cut-off. Cameroon’s Minister of Communication said it was impossible to talk about the cause of the crash since the black box of the plane has not yet been retrieved

Journalists, particularly those from Australia, asked about the crash site and what will happen to the remains of the victims. Issa Tchiroma said although the crash site is feasible, he can neither give an exact image of were the crash took place nor on what will happen to the corpses since he is not at the impact site. The Minister of Communication reiterated that it was necessary to extend government’s condolence to those affected while honouring the memory of the victims who have gone with an unfilled vision of developing Cameroon.

It should be recalled that the plane was transporting Sundance Resources Limited delegation which had to visit an iron mine in Congo before coming to Mbalam in the East Region of Cameroon. The plane was chartered by Cam Iron, a Cameroon Company, which has the right of exploiting iron in Mbalam. The aircraft had to transport the delegation of Sundance Resources Limited (financial partner of Cam Iron), from Yaoundé to Yangadou, in the North-West of Congo-Brazzaville. The delegation was led by Geoff Wedlock, chairman, not executive of Sundance Resources Ltd. The delegation arrived Cameroon, last Thursday afternoon with the aim of holding a Board of Directors meeting yesterday for the first time in Cameroon. The exploitation of iron in Mbalam is part of a big government project to develop the mining sector in Cameroon.