All presumed dead in Nigeria air crash; three days mourning declared
LAGOS The twisted and scattered wreckage of a Boeing MD-80 plane that crashed in a residential area in Lagos killing more than 150 people on board was being pulled out by cranes Monday as Nigeria declared three days of mourning.
So far 62 bodies have been pulled out from the wreckage, an official said, as rescuers searched through the debris for more bodies at the site of the devastation.
A church, a two-storey residential building and a printing shop were badly damaged.
Everyone on board the aircraft were killed in the crash, Harold Demuren, director-general of Nigeria's Civil Aviation Authority, said. However, the number of those killed on the ground was not known.
The plane, operated by Dana Air, was flying from Abuja, the capital, to Lagos.
Aviation Minister Stella Oduah said the pilot contacted the Lagos control tower to declare an emergency at 15:43 GMT, 11 nautical miles away from the runway.
"A minute later, the aircraft disappeared from the air traffic control radar," Oduah told reporters at a briefing.
According to some reports, the plane hit power cables as it descended towards the runway. The plane did not appear to have nose dived, but rather landed on its belly.
Goodluck Jonathan, the Nigerian president, declared three days of national mourning.
The plane's cockpit recorder has been located and handed to police.
The pilots had radioed the Lagos control tower just before the crash, saying the plane had engine trouble, a military official said, according to AP.
Source: Nigeria News.Net
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