Oct. 4 (Bloomberg) -- A cargo plane crashed into a densely populated neighborhood in the Democratic Republic of Congo's capital, Kinshasa, killing 25 people on board and causing casualties among residents, according to the United Nations mission in the central African country.

The Antonov 26 plane crashed in Masina at 10:45 a.m. local time, shortly after take-off from the city's main airport, N'Djili International, UN mission spokesman Michel Bonnardeaux said in a telephone interview today from Kinshasa. The aircraft may have had a Russian crew, the Interfax news agency cited the Russian Embassy in Kinshasa as saying.

``There were 27 people on board,'' Bonnardeaux said, citing police. ``A flight attendant and a mechanic survived.'' He said people on the ground may also have been killed.

The crash is the third in less than two months in Congo involving Soviet-designed Antonov aircraft. On Aug. 27, 16 people died when an Antonov 32 crashed about 10 minutes after take-off from Kongolo in the north of Katanga Province. On Sept. 7, five people died when an Antonov plane exploded after landing at Goma in North Kivu province.

Last year the European Union banned all except one of Congo's certified airlines, citing security concerns. Africa accounts for 4.5 percent of global air traffic and more than 12 percent of world aviation accidents, according to the Web site of the International Civil Aviation Organization.

Today's crash involved an aircraft owned by Africa One, AFP reported. Africa One is on the EU's list of banned airlines.

Houses Hit

The plane plowed across four avenues in Masina, damaging eight to 10 houses, Bonnardeaux said, citing an unidentified eyewitness. A UN fire truck and a number of Ghanaian soldiers were sent to the crash scene, Bonnardeaux said.

``They went and secured the area so that the fire brigade could put out the fire,'' he said. ``The fire has now abated and the situation has calmed. Ambulances are ferrying the dead and injured to hospitals.''

Rescue efforts were hampered because there is only one road leading from the scene to public hospitals in downtown Kinshasa, Bonnardeaux added.

The soldiers are part of a UN peacekeeping contingent in Congo, where two civil wars were fought in 1996 and 2003.

To contact the reporter on this story: Paul Richardson in Johannesburg at pmrichardson@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: October 4, 2007 10:55 EDT