Nando Times

Plane crash in Angola kills 16

The Associated Press

LISBON, Portugal (March 17, 2001 12:53 p.m. EST) - A plane crashed into a mountain near the Angolan city of Lubango on Saturday, killing 16 of the people on board, news reports said.

A Swedish passenger, who was not identified, was the only survivor. The crash occurred around 10 a.m. as the plane was preparing to land at Lubango, in the southwestern province of Huila, the Portuguese news agency Lusa said.

The plane, chartered by Angolan company Sociedade de Aviacao Ligeira, was flying from the Angolan capital, Luanda, which lies about 600 miles north of Lubango in the southern African country, Lusa said.

Among the victims were three Angolans employed by the Portuguese Banco de Fomento Exterior, in Angola, Lusa quoted a bank official as saying. Another bank employee and his wife, both of Angolan-Portuguese decent, also died in the crash, according to Lusa.

The nationalities of the other victims were not known and there was no information on the type of plane involved.

Over the past four years, more than 10 military and civilian planes have crashed in Angola, killing about 150 people.

Private companies charter aircraft to carry passengers and cargo across the vast former Portuguese colony because land mines and skirmishes between the army and UNITA rebel group make road travel unsafe.

-- Rachel Gibson (rgibson@hotmail.com), March 17, 2001