A plane belonging to a private company maintaining hydrocarbon pipelines crashed on Wednesday in a forest in central Cameroon with 11 people on board.
The air traffic services “lost radio contact with the aircraft” then the aircraft was “located in the forest” near Nanga Eboko, some 150 km northeast of Yaoundé, specifies the Ministry of Transport in a press release, without further details on the fate of the passengers. “He crashed to the ground” and “our teams are trying to see if it is possible to save people”, confirmed to AFP a ministry official who requested anonymity.
The aircraft was chartered by the Cameroon Oil Transportation Company SA (COTCO) told AFP this source and another senior official of the aeronautical authorities, also on condition of anonymity. COTCO is responsible for the maintenance and upkeep of a pipeline between Cameroon and neighboring Chad.
Rescuers are trying to locate the occupants.
The plane, whose type and brand have not been made public, was linking Yaoundé-Nsimalen airport to Belabo, in the east of the country, the ministry statement said. “Land resources are currently en route to the site” of the crash of the aircraft to “provide assistance to its occupants”, concludes the press release.
The last air disaster in Cameroon dates back to the night of May 4-5, 2007. A Kenya Airways Boeing 737-800 from Douala to Abidjan crashed into the sea shortly after taking off from the capital’s airport. Cameroonian economy under a violent storm. Its 114 occupants had been killed, including 34 Cameroonians.