55 killed in Equatorial Guinea plane crash

MALABO - All 55 passengers and crew were killed when an Antonov plane crashed shortly after takeoff from Equatorial Guinea's capital Malabo, the government said yesterday.

Information Minister and government spokesman Alfonso Nsue Mokuy said he was in touch with a team at the site of Saturday's crash near Baney, a town some 19 km from Malabo.

"No one survived - the plane was destroyed," Nsue Mokuy said. Until teams reached the site on Sunday, the government had been unable to say whether anyone might have survived the crash.

Nsue Mokuy dismissed local media reports that the Russian-made Antonov plane had been carrying up to 80 people when it crashed.

The plane, owned by local company Equatair, was heading from Malabo, on the Atlantic island of Bioko, to Bata, on the mainland section of the central African country.

The flight route to Bata is virtually all over the ocean, although the plane crashed on land. It disappeared off the radar screen shortly after taking off at 1000 (10.00pm NZT) on Saturday, officials said.

Six of the 55 people on board were crew, officials said on Saturday.

Africa's airspace is notoriously dangerous compared to other parts of the world, with many airline companies suffering from chronic under-investment.

Despite accounting for just 3 percent of global airline traffic, last year the continent saw 27 percent of the world's fatal airliner accidents, according to the Dutch-based Aviation Safety Network.

- REUTERS