|
The cause of the Dana Air crash remained unknown Sunday night, asfirefighters and police struggled to put out the flames around thewreckage of the Boeing MD83 aircraft. Authorities could not controlthe crowd of thousands gathered around to see the crash site, withsome crawling over the plane's broken wings and standing on astill-smouldering landing gear. Harold Demuren, the director-general of Nigeria's Civil AviationAuthority, said all on board the flight were killed in the crash.Lagos state government said in a statement that 153 people were onthe flight travelling from Nigeria's central capital of Abuja toLagos in the nation's southwest. The flight's pilots radioed to the Lagos control tower just beforethe crash, saying the plane had engine trouble, a military officialsaid. The official spoke on condition of anonymity as he was notauthorized to speak to journalists. Rescue officials feared many others were killed or injured on theground, but no casualty figures were immediately available.Firefighters and local residents were seen carrying the corpse of aman from one building, its walls still crumbling and flamesshooting from its roof more than an hour after the crash. President Goodluck Jonathan later declared three days of nationalmourning in Africa's most populous nation. The aircraft appeared to have landed on its belly in the denselypopulated neighbourhood that sits along the typical approach pathtaken by aircraft heading into Lagos' Murtala MuhammedInternational Airport. The plane tore through roofs, sheared amango tree and rammed into a woodworking studio, a printing pressand at least two large apartment buildings in the neighbourhoodbefore stopping. A white, noxious cloud rose from the crash site that burnedonlookers' eyes, as pieces of the plane lay scattered around themuddy ground. While local residents helped carry fire hoses to the crash site,the major challenges of life in oil-rich Nigeria quickly becameapparent as there wasn't any water to put out the flames more thanthree hours later. Some young men carried plastic buckets of waterto the fire, trying to douse small portions. Fire trucks, from thevery few that are stationed in Lagos state, couldn't carry enoughwater. Officials commandeered water trucks from nearby constructionsites, but they became stuck on the narrow, crowded roads, unableto reach the crash site. Nigeria, home to more than 160 million people, suffers from endemicgovernment corruption and mismanagement. The nation also has ahistory of major aviation disasters, though in recent years therehasn't been a crash. But many travellers remain leery of some airlines. On Saturdaynight, a Nigerian Boeing 727 cargo airliner crashed in Accra, thecapital of Ghana, slamming into a bus and killing 10 people. Theplane belonged to Lagos-based Allied Air Cargo. Officials withLagos-based Dana Air did not respond to calls for comment Sundaynight. The airline has five aircraft in its fleet and runs bothregional and domestic flights. Local media reported a similar Danaflight in May made an emergency landing at the Lagos airport afterhaving a hydraulic problem. Sunday's crash appeared to be the worst since September, 1992, whena military transport plane crashed into a swamp shortly aftertakeoff from Lagos. All 163 army soldiers, relatives and crewmembers on board were killed. As night began to fall Sunday, more and more worried relatives ofpassengers arrived in the neighbourhood, pushing their way down thecrowded, narrow streets to make it to the crash site. One manstopped to ask about the crash, whether any passengers walked awayalive. His eyes grew wide when he heard no one escaped alive, his handrising to his mouth. His brother was on board. Oh God, we lost him, the man whispered, before slowly walkingaway. Associated Press. I am an expert from naturalslimming-pills.com, while we provides the quality product, such as China Natural Slimming Pills , Natural Male sex Enhancement, Natural Slimming Pills,and more.
Related Articles -
China Natural Slimming Pills, Natural Male sex Enhancement,
|
