Congo's transport minister has been fired following a plane crash that killed at least 39 people, officials said Friday as rescue workers finally put out the fire surrounding the wreckage.

Men search the remains of a home on Friday where one of their relatives is believed to have been killed. The day before, a cargo plane crashed into the residential neighbourhood in Kinshasa, Congo.
(John Bompengo/Associated Press)

A cargo plane dove into three houses in a crowded market area of the Kingasani neighbourhood Thursday morning after taking off from Kinshasa's international airport. At least six homes were destroyed in the crash and subsequent fire.

One of the dead includes a child who was burned in the inferno. Aid workers continued their search for bodies Friday.

An official at the Democratic Republic of Congo's Humanitarian Affairs Ministry, Serge Mulumba, said 39 bodies have been pulled from the accident scene, including 12 from the plane.

Only two on board the Antonov 26, piloted by a Russian crew, survived the crash — a mechanic and a flight attendant who is in critical condition. At least 16 people were on board, according to civil aviation chief Alphonse Ilunga.

Transport Minister Remy Kuseyo's firing was announced on state television, although a government spokesman did not say if Kuseyo was accused of wrongdoing or negligence.

Kuseyo argued Friday that his dismissal was unfair, saying the plane should have been prevented from taking off from N'Djili Airport by a three-week-old ban on Antonov planes following recent crashes.

"Measures had been taken. I had taken measures, but I am not the one who was to have put the measures in place on the ground," Kuseyo told the Associated Press.

The cause of the crash remains unknown. One of the plane's propellers broke free during takeoff, while a wing split away when it hit a bank of trees, Russia's Foreign Ministry said.

Officials said three Russians were among the dead: the pilot, co-pilot and a flight engineer. The flight was en route to Tshikapa, in central Congo.

The central African country, formerly known as Zaire, has had more fatal air crashes than any other African nation since 1945, according to the Aviation Safety Network.

The plane's domestic carrier, Africa One, had been barred from flying in the European Union because of safety concerns.

With files from the Associated Press