
Two Georgians Die in Congo Plane Crash
At least eight people, including two Georgian citizens, were killed in a cargo plane crash in the Democratic Republic of Congo on September 7, the Georgian Foreign Ministry has confirmed.
Two Georgian citizens, Zurab Mosia and Artur Bagdasarov, were the pilots of an An-12, which crashed while landing in the country?s southern town of Goma.
The plane, according to the Georgian United Transport Administration (UTA), was owned by the Georgian-owned TransAviaService. Founded in 1995, the company is engaged in the cargo transportation business.
?This plane has not undergone safety check procedures since this March,? Keti Basilashvili, UTA spokesperson, told Civil.Ge on September 8, ?because its exploitation period expired in March.?
Officials said that the UTA was considering temporarily stripping TransAviaService of the right to conduct flights.
TransAviaService said it would pay USD 10,000 in compensation to each of the victims’ families.
Reports said that two other crew members were from Ukraine.
A Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman, Boris Malakhov, said the Russian embassy in Congo was ready to provide assistance to Georgia and Ukraine.
?As Ukraine and Georgia do not have embassies in Congo, the Russian Embassy in Kinshasa is ready to provide representatives of these countries with necessary consular support,” he told the RIA Novosti news agency.
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