A small turboprop Let L-410 aircraft belonging to the Congolese company Kin Avia has crashed at about noon (10:00 GMT) on Wednesday, June 16, killing everyone on board.

Officials from the Congolese Airways Authority and the aviation authority of the Democratic Republic of Congo said the cargo plane descended a few minutes after taking off from Kavumu airport near Bukavu, capital of South Kivu province, in the east of the country about 1,500 km east of Kinshasa.

Volunteers present at the scene of the crash have described the crash as “horrific” adding that one of the victims was cut in half.

A UN mission ambulance (MUNUSCO) later arrived to take the bodies to the town of Bukavu after volunteers had moved the bodies to a Pakistan UN camp that was close to the scene of the crash.

Erik Jacobs, general manager of Kin Avia, has confirmed that the cargo plane that crashed had on board one Russian pilot, one Congolese co-pilot and a passenger.

Investigators have assured the public they would ascertain the root cause of the cargo flight’s crash.