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Lagos air crash: All aboard feared dead, officials say | |
(40 minutes later) | |
A passenger plane with about 150 people on board has crashed into a building in Nigeria's main city of Lagos and burst into flames. | |
Nigeria's Civil Aviation Authority said there were no survivors on board the Dana Air plane. The cause of the crash is not yet known. | |
Thousands of onlookers gathered at the crash site as rescue services searched the rubble for survivors. | |
President Goodluck Jonathan has declared three days of mourning. | |
The plane crashed in the densely populated Iju neighbourhood, just north of the airport, Lagos State police spokesman Joseph Jaiyeoba told AFP. | The plane crashed in the densely populated Iju neighbourhood, just north of the airport, Lagos State police spokesman Joseph Jaiyeoba told AFP. |
A spokesman for Nigeria's national emergency management agency said there were likely to be more casualties on the ground. | |
Smoke billows | Smoke billows |
The commercial aircraft was flying from the Nigerian capital, Abuja, to Lagos when the crash took place. | The commercial aircraft was flying from the Nigerian capital, Abuja, to Lagos when the crash took place. |
The plane struck a two-storey building and burst into flames, witnesses were quoted as saying. | |
There were chaotic scenes as onlookers and emergency services rushed to the crash site. | There were chaotic scenes as onlookers and emergency services rushed to the crash site. |
At the crash site, reporters saw plane wreckage scattered around and the body of the plane lodged into an apartment building. | At the crash site, reporters saw plane wreckage scattered around and the body of the plane lodged into an apartment building. |
Several charred corpses could be seen in the rubble. | |
The plane did not to appear to have nose-dived into the building but to have landed on its belly, careering through a furniture shop and then into residential buildings, the Associated Press agency said. | |
Firefighters tried to put out the smouldering flames of the jet engine as black smoke billowed. | Firefighters tried to put out the smouldering flames of the jet engine as black smoke billowed. |
An investigation is under way, but in difficult conditions as darkness falls, says the BBC's East Africa correspondent Will Ross. | An investigation is under way, but in difficult conditions as darkness falls, says the BBC's East Africa correspondent Will Ross. |
Technical problem | |
In a statement, President Jonathan declared three days of mourning. | |
"President Jonathan, who has cancelled all his public engagements scheduled for tomorrow, has also directed that the Nigerian flag be flown at half-mast for the three days of national mourning," the statement added. | |
He had ordered the "fullest possible" investigation into the crash. | |
The weather at the time of the crash was overcast - but there were none of the storms that regularly strike the city. | The weather at the time of the crash was overcast - but there were none of the storms that regularly strike the city. |
On 11 May a similar Dana Air plane - possibly the same one - developed a technical problem and was forced to make an emergency landing in Lagos, our correspondent adds. | On 11 May a similar Dana Air plane - possibly the same one - developed a technical problem and was forced to make an emergency landing in Lagos, our correspondent adds. |
Nigeria, like many African countries, has a poor air safety record, though some efforts have been made to improve it since a spate of airline disasters in 2005. | Nigeria, like many African countries, has a poor air safety record, though some efforts have been made to improve it since a spate of airline disasters in 2005. |
Dana Air's website says it operates Boeing MD-83 planes to cities around Nigeria out of Murtala Muhammed Airport. | Dana Air's website says it operates Boeing MD-83 planes to cities around Nigeria out of Murtala Muhammed Airport. |