A Lagos-bound Dana Air from Abuja, Sunday, crashed in a two-storey building at Ishaga, at the outskirts of Lagos, leaving 153 passengers dead
The aircraft, marked 5N-RAM, disappeared from the radar scope of the Lagos Air Traffic Control after communication from the tower to the pilot in command failed, before it crashed into the residential building on Tolulope Street, in Toyin area of Ishaga.
The General Manager of the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA), Femi Oke-Osanyintolu, said that the aircraft hit a power line and subsequently crashed into the building which comprised of six flats.
The aircraft exploded on impact and razed the building, according to Dr. Osanyintolu.
Emergency rescue officials said that they could not yet ascertain the number of people in the building or those who were trapped in the rubble.
In addition to LASEMA, officials of the Lagos State Fire Service, Lagos State Ambulance Service, Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps, Nigerian Red Cross, Rapid Response Squad and other rescue workers were on hand to remove corpses from the wreckage.
On one of the balconies, rescue workers removed ten bodies.
As at the time of filing this report, the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Accident Investigation Bureau (AIB) and Dana Air management were not willing to comment on the matter.
A spokesman of NCAA, Sam Adurogboye, said the agency would issue a statement after getting details of the crash.
Addressing journalists after the accident, Stella Oduah, the minister of Aviation, said that the pilot had declared an emergency with the Lagos control tower at “11 nautical miles” to the Murtala Mohammed Airport but the aircraft disappeared from the air traffic control radar soon afterwards.
Mrs. Oduah stated that the incident will be “thoroughly investigated to determine the exact cause in order to prevent a similar occurrence in the future.”
Levi Ajuonuma, the spokesperson of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation; Shehu Sa’ad, director of Mainstreet Bank; Ehime Aikhomu, son of late vice admiral Augustus Aikhomu; were among those aboard the ill fated flight, according to the passengers manifest released after the incident revealed after the incident.
A statement from the Presidency said that President Goodluck Jonathan while cancelling all his official engagements scheduled for Monday has declared a three day national mourning and directed that the Nigerian flag be flown at half mast.
“President joins all Nigerians in mourning all those who lost their lives in the plane crash,” Reuben Abati, presidential spokesperson, tweeted.
Also, in a tweet immediately after the crash, singer Iyanya Mbuk said that he missed the flight by a hair’s breadth.
“When its not your time.. Its not yours.. it took me 30mins to convince my manager that we should stay back in abuja.. God is great,” tweeted the Season One Winner of the MTN Project Fame West Africa.
0 Comments