DR Congo president's aide killed in plane crash

A close aide to DR Congo President Joseph Kabila was killed and the countrys finance minister seriously injured in a plane crash on Sunday in the east of the country, the presidents office said.The statement identified Kabilas aide as Augustin Katumba Mwanke, 48, considered a key member of Kabilas entourage, who had the ear of the president.Finance Minister Augustin Matata Ponyo was in a serious condition, while Sud-Kivu governor Marcellin Tshisambo had suffered fractures in both legs, said an airport official.The plane overshot the runway at Bukavu airport, the presidents office said.There were three killed: two American crew members and one passenger, Mwanke, a Bukavu airport official told AFP on condition of anonymity, adding that there had been eight passengers on the aircraft.Mwanke and the pilot died on the spot, a source at the presidency said.The twin-engine Gulfstream 200 had flown in from the capital Kinshasa via Goma and apparently missed its landing at Bukavu airport, in the vast countrys east.It touched down only halfway down the runway and went skidding into a ditch beyond the runway. The plane is damaged, the airport official said.