A passenger plane overshot the runway Thursday, landing in hardened lava surrounding an airport in eastern Congo and injuring 20 people, a U.N. radio station reported. The MD-82 (registration 9Q-CAB, msn 49702), operated by CAA (Compagnie Africaine d’Aviation), was flying from Kinshasa to Goma. An official from the U.N. mission in Congo, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he does not have permission to speak with media, said there were 117 passengers aboard. They included the governor of North Kivu province, who was not hurt.
A 2002 volcanic eruption sent lava oozing onto Goma’s runway, truncating it from more than 2 miles (3 kilometers) to less than a mile (1.5 kilometers). Authorities have not removed all of the lava rock.