Plane with 11 on board crashes in Cameroon

 A passenger plane carrying 11 people crashed in a forest in central Cameroon on Wednesday, May 11, the country’s transport ministry said.

© ARTEMIO SEQUERA/AFP or licensors FILE-Investigators, members of civil protection and firefighters observe the remains of a Russian-made MI17 helicopter of the

Part of the ministry’s statement reads, that air traffic services "lost radio contact with the aircraft" and the plane was then "located in the forest" near Nanga Eboko, some 150km northeast of Yaounde.

"It crashed on the ground and "our teams are seeing if it is possible to save people," a ministry official who requested anonymity told AFP.

At the time of filing this report, the fate of the passengers was not known.

The aircraft was chartered by the Cameroon Oil Transportation Company S.A. (COTCO), this source and another senior aviation official told AFP, also on condition of anonymity.

According to the ministry, the plane, belonging to a private company that maintains hydrocarbon pipelines was flying from Yaounde-Nsimalen airport to Belabo in the east of the country.

It was the first major air catastrophe reported in Cameroon since 2007 when a Kenya Airways plane carrying 114 people crashed after take-off from Douala Airport. There were no survivors in that accident.