The Government of the Democratic Republic of Congo, in Kinshasa has confirmed the deaths of senior army officials who perished in the disastrous plane crash on Friday night.
The two army personnel, both Lieutenant Generals serving different positions, were killed alongside 12 other passengers and members of the aircraft crew.
On the other hand, the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo (FARDC) has released the names of the officers who were killed when the aircraft they were traveling on crashed and burst into flames on a domestic compound in the Kenge area of DRC.
The Forces armées de la république démocratique du Congo (FARDC), has confirmed the deaths of the First President of the Military High Court, Lieutenant General Joseph Mutombo Katalayi Tiende, and the Auditor General of the FARDC, Lieutenant General Lucien-René Likulia Bakumi in the tragic Friday plane crash near Kenge.
According to the FARDC Major General, Sylvain Ekenge Bomusa Efomi, the two military officers were on a special army mission.
Their Let 410 aircraft, operated by Tracep Congo Aviation, went down while returning from the special official mission in Kikwit.
The Congolese army says 12 other delegation members and the crew also perished in the fire.
The plane pilot’s body was however discovered outside the plane, a few meters away, indicating that he could have possibly tried to jump from the aircraft when things went out of his control.
The aircraft crashed and caught fire on Friday the 25th of September 2026 in Kenge, the capital of Kwango Province in southwestern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
Reports from the DR Congo’s provincial government, the aircraft had encountered problems as it approached the city before eventually crashing into a residential compound.
The Vice Governor of Kwango, Remy Saki said the pilot’s body was discovered outside the wreckage of the aircraft.
He probably tried to jump out.
Saki said the aircraft had circled over Kenge several times as the crew searched for a suitable place to land before the aircraft eventually crashed.
Despite the impact and subsequent fire, Saki said no one in the residential compound which was struck by the aircraft was injured.
“Fortunately, none of the occupants of the compound were harmed,” Saki was quoted as saying.
The crash occurred in an area of Kenge, raising concerns among residents and authorities as emergency personnel responded to the scene and worked around the wreckage.
This is the fourth plane crash to occur in the DR Congo within one month.
