The Moldovan government increased to ten the number killed in an airliner crash in eastern Congo, the Infotag news agency reported Wednesday. The Soviet-made aircraft crashed Monday, U.N. officials said. Two passengers survived, according to a statement carried by dpa from the Moldova Prosecutor General's office. Early reports had given the death toll as seven. It was possible that some or all of four victims identified as Russians were in fact Ukrainians or Moldovans, the statement said. The Antonov-26 twin turboprop had been owned by the Ukrainaian air charter company Kharkovski Avialinii, and at the time of the crash possibly operated under the terms of a sublet contract by Moldovan Aerokom. Aerokom however ceased to exist as a registered Moldovan company in August 2004, and the airplane's navigation license became invalid a month later, the Moldovan government statement said. Chisinau informed the Congolese governent of the aircraft's unsuitability for further operations, but the plane's Congolese operators remained in the passenger transport business until the time of the crash, reported dpa. --More 2324 Local Time 2024 GMT
