Australia mourns mining chiefs

After Congo plane crash:

Australia mourned its mining tycoon Ken Talbot and his colleagues Tuesday after an African plane crash wiped out Sundance Resources’ entire board and left the company in crisis.

Foreign Minister Stephen Smith warned that retrieving the bodies could be “regrettably painstaking” after a chartered twin turboprop went down in Congo’s thick jungle at the weekend, killing all 11 people on board.

International rescuers searching by helicopter spotted the wreckage Monday before French military personnel dropped at the crash site confirmed there were no survivors.

Australian mining contractors will start clearing a track to the isolated and hilly spot at first light on Tuesday, Sundance Resources said.

The plane was travelling from Cameroon to a mine in Congo when it crashed on Saturday. Sydney, Tuesday, AFP