BEIRUT: A plane crash in the Democratic Republic of Congo that killed more than 70 has also claimed the life of a Lebanese man, Hussein Ali Khazal, who hailed from Ainata, south Lebanon.

The Boeing 727 airplane, carrying 118 passengers and crew, crashed at Kisangani airport as it attempted to land in a heavy thunderstorm Friday.

Khazal, in his mid-20s, was a resident of DR Congo, where he lived with his parents, Haitham Joumaa, the director general of the Foreign Affairs and Emigrants Ministry told The Daily Star. He added that preparations were under way to return the body of Khazaal to Lebanon, but that it might take some time due to the remote location of the crash.

The Hewa Bora airliner was on its regular route from Kinshasa to Kisangani when it hit the storm as it approached the airport.

The Associated Press reported that government spokesman Lambert Mende said the plane went down in bad weather a few meters from Kisangani airport. “It was due to the thunder,” he said. “There are around 50 dead and 53 survivors, as well as a dozen people still unaccounted for.”

Hewa Bora, which means “Fresh Air” in Swahili, has a history of crashes. In April 2008, one of their DC-9s rammed into a bustling market after failing to lift off from Goma’s airport, killing at least 40 people – most of them on the ground.

A few months later in September, a Hewa Bora plane carrying 17 people went down in inclement weather killing all on board.

Congo has one of the worst air safety records in the world. Few passable roads traverse the country after decades of war and corrupt rule, forcing the country’s deeply impoverished people to rely on ill-maintained planes and boats to move around. - With agencies