Cameroon: A plane carrying 11 people on board crashes near the capital

A small passenger plane carrying 11 people crashed in a forest near the Cameroonian capital, Yaoundé, on Wednesday, the country’s transport ministry said.

The aircraft was flying from Yaoundé Nsimalen airport to Belabo, in the east of the country, it added.

The cause of the crash was not immediately clear.

“The plane lost radio contact with air traffic controllers and was later located in the forest near Nanga Eboko, around 150km (90 miles) north-east of Yaoundé,” the ministry said in a statement.

AFP news agency quotes official sources as saying the plane was chartered by a private company, the Cameroon Oil Transportation Company (COTCO) that maintains a hydrocarbon pipeline that runs between Cameroon and neighbouring Chad.