KINSHASA: At least 72 people were killed in the Democratic Republic of Congo after a plane, carrying 112 passengers and crew, crash-landed at Kisangani airport, a top official said.

M Stavros, general director of the Hewa Bora Airways, which operated the crashed aircraft, confirmed the number of deaths in the Friday's accident, Xinhua reported.

The Hewa Bora Airways plane was enroute Kinshasa to Kisangani and Goma.

Media reports earlier said that at least 53 survivors had been pulled out from the wreckage of the Boeing 727.

DR Congo's transport ministry, however, was quoted in reports as saying that the toll reached 127, with 51 people surviving the tragedy.

The plane crashed into forests as the pilot tried to land amid stormy weather but couldn't get onto the runway, said reports.

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