NIGERIA: Emergency workers are still pulling bodies out of the wreck of a crashed plane that came down in a populated area of the Nigerian city of Lagos

Record ID: 235667

  • Title: NIGERIA: Emergency workers are still pulling bodies out of the wreck of a crashed plane that came down in a populated area of the Nigerian city of Lagos
  • Date: 5th June 2012
  • Summary: VARIOUS OF RESCUE WORKERS AND FIRE FIGHTERS PUTTING OUT FIRE, PLANE FUSELAGE STILL SMOULDERING
  • Embargoed: 20th June 2012 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Nigeria
  • Country: Nigeria
  • Topics: Accidents
  • Reuters ID: LVA99Y9V526WUSGWFEZ2WJLPD2H5
  • Story Text: Nigerian emergency services pulled more bodies out of the still-smouldering, ash-covered wreckage of a plane on Monday (June 4) that crashed in the commercial hub Lagos the day before, killing all 153 people on board.
    President Goodluck Jonathan declared three days of national mourning and ordered an investigation into the cause of the crash which jolted residents of Lagos' Agege suburb where most live in tin-roofed buildings along unpaved streets.
    The McDonnell Douglas MD-83, operated by privately owned domestic carrier Dana Air, was coming into land on a flight from the capital Abuja when it hit the building, not far from Lagos's Murtala Muhammed Airport, at 2:44 p.m. (1344 GMT) and burst into flames, according to the airline.
    Dana Air said it was still investigating what caused the crash.
    Smoke billowed from the windows and roof of the building that had somehow survived being completely demolished by the crash. Locals climbed on top of walls to try to look in. Bits of the twisted metal were scattered on the muddy ground.
    Lagos State Governor Babatunde Fashola visited the crash site.
    "It is simply too much to take in at one time, really. Ordinary people trying to earn a living ending up so tragically and untimely, the families, the pilots, the crew, young Nigerians whose lives have been so drastically and suddenly cut short. It is a very, very traumatic and painful experience."
    Forty four year-old Emmanuel Shoyemi, a single father living in a building opposite where the plan crashed said he had just finished feeding his five children and was about to step out when he heard a terrifying sound from the skies that has left him shocked until now.
    "The plane hit this tree here and entered that compound. I am watching, about five minutes. I was stunned for about five minutes not knowing who to call. The shock alone was too much, then immediately I heard a blast from that place, two times," he said as he held his eight-month-old daughter.
    Air crashes are not uncommon in Nigeria, Africa's second biggest economy, which has had a poor airliner safety record, although it has improved in the past few years.
    Dana Air operates flights to cities around Nigeria out of Murtala Muhammed Airport.
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