A Guinean military fighter plane crashed on Monday into a suburb of the capital of the West African country, government and witnesses said.
”A MiG came down around 11.30am [GMT] on an RTG [Guinea Radio and Television] building,” Communication Minister Justin Morel Junior said.
”The two pilots escaped and are alive,” he said, adding there were ”some slight injuries in the panic that followed the collision [involving] broken glass”.
No casualties were reported on the ground either.
”We have neither deaths nor casualties. We have been very lucky because only the roof of a wing of the building was hit,” television director Yamoussa Sidibe said.
The accident took place during regular military drills, said the minister.
Witnesses said the MiG 21 burst into flames when it came down on part of the building that houses the country’s RTG state radio and television station, and in front of the United States embassy in the Ratoma suburb.
Firefighters put out the flames, but hours after the accident the wreck of the plane had yet to be pulled down, according to an Agence France-Presse correspondent at the scene.
Junior said the Chinese ambassador to Conakry has promised to help with the repairs of the Russian-made aircraft.
The army regularly undertakes training exercises around the capital. — Sapa-AFP