Plane with 153 people crashes into building in Nigeria

AFP

Abuja, 03 Jun 2012: At least 153 people are feared to have died when a passenger plane carrying them crashed into a building in a residential area of Nigeria’s commercial capital Lagos today.

 

The aircraft belonging to Dana air caught fire immediately sending billows of thick black smoke into the air at the Iju neighbourhood where it went down.

 

Civil Aviation Authority officials believed there were little chances of finding any survivors.

 

An eyewitness told PTI he does not believe any of the passengers survived the crash that happened near a bus stop in the Ifako Local Government Area of Lagos state.

 

Besides the passengers and crew on the plane, residents of the house may add to the number of persons killed or injured in the crash.

 

Emergency services, including fire fighters, were seen rushing to the area following the incident.

 

The flight took off from Lagos on its way to the capital city of Abuja, National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) said.

 

Harold Demureen, head of the oil rich African country’s Civil Aviation Authority confirmed the incident but did not give the casualty figures as yet.

 

Nigeria had witnessed a number of plane crashes in 2005 and 2006 that led to stricter controls in the aviation sector.