Russia’s embassy in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has confirmed the death of three Russian pilots in an An-26 cargo plane’s crash.

"Regrettably, I can confirm that the crewmembers of the plane that crashed on Thursday were Russian nationals. Currently, their bodies have taken to a morgue in Kinshasa," Russian Ambassador Alexei Sentebov told TASS over the phone.

According to Sentebov, the dead are being identified. "We will tell their names later when we have official documents," he said.

A Gomair An-26 plane that was engaged to take electoral materials to Congo’s regions ahead of the presidential and parliamentary elections due on December 30 crashed on Thursday when it was on its way back to Kinshasa from Tshikapa. There were 23 people aboard the plane, including the Russian crew. No information about the passengers and a possible cause of the crash is now available.

Agence France-Presse earlier reported the death of six people, including five crew members, citing the election commission. According to the election commission, the plane was returning to the capital after delivering election materials to the city of Tshikapa for the general election which is scheduled for December 30 in the country. Contact with the pilots was lost after they had flown back to Kinshasa on Thursday evening.