Plane plunges into sea, crew pulled out alive

A DHL cargo plane plunged into the sea off the coast of Gabon's capital Libreville Monday but the four crew on board were pulled out alive, air safety officials told AFP.

It was unclear what caused the plane to ditch into the sea, officials said at the scene of the accident where emergency services, divers, boats and a helicopter were involved in the rescue.

"There were four people on board. All four are alive, they were taken out of the plane with the help of emergency services," said Moise Dabany from the airport safety services.

"The four are in hospital, wounded," he said. "We have not been able to find out what the problem was. We are waiting to be able to talk to the captain."

Dabany could only identify the crew as one African and three people from Eastern Europe.

The plane was not completely submerged in the water, with parts of the rear and cabin sticking out, an AFP journalist said.

It was from the DHL express courier service and flying the route between Libreville to Port Gentil, Gabon's oil centre to the southwest, said Serge Thomas-Ebenbge from the National Civil Aviation Agency.

The plane was a turboprop Antonov 26, he said. 

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