Russians, Congolese injured when plane lands in Kigali  

KIGALI, June 1--    Twelve people aboard an Antonov 32 plane sustained major injuries when it crash-landed here Tuesday at Kigali International Airport Kanombe.

    The Russian pilots and Congolese passengers are now under intensive care at a local hospital Kanombe.

    Officials said the plane from Benin to Goma in the Democratic Republic of the Congo failed to retract its left tyres on its takeoff from Benin, forcing it to be redirected to land at Kanombe,where it crashed at around 0500 GMT.

    Director of the Rwandan airport Peter Mugenzi said the plane had technical problems after taking off. "The pilots communicated to us and we had to allow it to land here given that the Goma airport has no capacity to handle such emergency cases," he said.

    The plane with the number of 9XRSN is registered in Rwanda under Sun Air. An aviation official at the airport who sought anonymity said the plane "landed like a stone from the air," adding that the airport facilities for crash-landing managed to halt the plane and fire department arrived on time before the plane burst into flames.