More than 150 dead in Nigerian plane crash

Updated

Officials in Nigeria say they have found no survivors after a passenger plane carrying 153 people slammed into a residential area of the country's largest city Lagos.

The McDonnell Douglas 83, operated by Indian-owned local carrier Dana airlines, burst into flames after crashing into a two-storey building.

Residents said the plane had been coming in low, making a loud noise, when it hit the ground just outside the perimeter of the city's airport.

The cause of the crash was not immediately clear, though an official from Nigeria's rescue agency and an aviation official said the cockpit recorder had been located and handed over to police.

The crash started a fierce fire on the ground. Thick smoke rose from the area and wreckage, including an engine and part of a wing, was scattered amidst the destruction.

It hit the building and it burst into flames. The head of Nigeria's aviation authority has been quick to come out and say that he doesn't think there will be any survivors. What we do not know is how many people on the ground may have suffered the same fate because this is a built-up area, it's on the perimeter of an enormous city, and this plane has ploughed into what is a very built-up area. So emergency crews were rushing there. It's now nightfall. They're trying to work in what is a very crowded and difficult situation with thousands of onlookers who have also come in. It's going to be some time before everything is very clear. Africa correspondent Ginny Stein

A spokesman for the airline said those on board included 147 passengers and six crew.

Residents reported seeing bodies being taken out of the area as rescue workers rushed in and a helicopter landed.

Nigeria's National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) confirmed there had been no survivors among those onboard. It was not known how many people died on the ground.

BBC correspondent Tomi Oladipo said the plane crashed into two buildings; a printing press and a workshop.

"It does seem that it was a printing press, there were books and all sorts of things lying around," he told ABC News Breakfast.

"So hopefully not too many residents [were] caught underneath that plane as it came to the ground."

Sorry, this video has expired Video: Tomi Oladipo speaks to ABC News Breakfast (ABC News)

"The plane is still burning and gas coming out pervades the whole place, making search and rescue efforts difficult," Tunji Oketunbi, a spokesman for Nigeria's accident investigation bureau, told AFP from the scene earlier.

"It was a Dana (airline) flight out of (the capital) Abuja to Lagos with about 153 people on board," Nigeria's head of civil aviation Harold Demuren told AFP.

A spokesman for Dana confirmed one of its planes had crashed but could not immediately provide further details.

"We lost communication with the aircraft. We are going to issue an official statement."

Chaotic scenes

The crash happened in the Iju neighbourhood on the mainland of the city, where most of the city's population lives.

After the crash thousands of onlookers partially blocked access to the site, prompting soldiers to try to clear the area out.

They used rubber whips, their fists and even threw a wood plank at those crowded around.

Looking to evade the troops, people took off in several directions, trampling their neighbours as they tried to avoid being crushed themselves.

Some locals snaked a fire hose hoisted on their shoulders from a truck parked on the road towards the impact area.

But this effort was also interrupted by the security forces, who broke up the human chain.

Some reacted by throwing stones at the troops, creating a crossfire of hailing rocks over the narrow street adjacent to the site.

The area also plunged into all-out pandemonium when a helicopter tried to land amid the crowd, kicking up clouds of ash and light debris that again scattered people in various directions.

After the crash, it appeared only a handful of rescue vehicles had managed to fight through the chaos to reach the site.

Air safety is a concern across Africa, and Nigeria, being the largest and most populous country, has got the most planes in the air.

On Saturday night a Nigerian cargo plane taking off from Ghana crashed into the airport's perimeter fence and into a bus and cars, killing at least 10 people and injuring scores more.

Nigerian president Goodluck Jonathan has declared three days of national mourning and ordered "the fullest possible investigation" into the crash.

ABC/wires

Topics: air-and-space, disasters-and-accidents, nigeria

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