A plane carrying Ivory Coast’s prime minister came under heavy gunfire as it landed Friday at an airport in the country’s north but the leader was not harmed, his spokesmen said.

Three other people suffered fatal injuries during a rough landing at Bouake airport, roughly 250 miles from the West African country’s commercial capital, Abidjan, two spokesmen for Prime Minister Guillaume Soro said.

“You heard the sound of heavy explosions and then several volleys of shots,” Sidiki Konate, who was with Soro on the plane, told French radio. “Many were also injured seriously. The prime minister was unhurt.”

Alain Lobognon, another spokesman traveling with Soro, said the prime minister was taken to a safe place after the attack. Lobognon confirmed three were killed in the landing.