Dogs hunt for bodies in debris of plane crash
Source: Agencies |
June 5, 2012, Tuesday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
POLICE dogs searched for dead bodies yesterday in the rubble of buildings destroyed when an airliner crashed into them, killing all 153 aboard, as cranes lifted away heavy pieces of debris in the grisly aftermath of Nigeria's worst air disaster in nearly two decades.
At least six Chinese people were among the dead passengers.
Rescue officials said they fear many more people may have perished on the ground. The airline involved said an investigation had begun into the cause of Sunday's crash.
A Nigeria Red Cross report said 110 bodies had been recovered, with more being dug out from the rubble.
A US official said American citizens had been on board the flight.
The pilots reported engine trouble before the plane fell out of the sky on a clear afternoon, smashing into businesses and crowded apartment buildings near Lagos' Murtala Muhammed International Airport.
Lost power
The flight was bound for Lagos, Nigeria's commercial center, from Abuja, the capital. Two years ago, the same MD-83 lost engine power due to a bird strike, according to an aviation database.
"The fear is that since it happened in a residential area, there may have been many people killed," said Yushau Shuaib, a spokesman for Nigeria's National Emergency Management Agency.
Overnight, officials brought in a large crane from a local construction company to lift the tail of the aircraft and other debris, and brought blow torches to cut through the aircraft wreckage.
The debris still smoldered yesterday morning. Some emergency workers wore masks to try and protect themselves from the stench.
Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan spent about 20 minutes looking at the wreckage with federal lawmakers and said the crash was a setback to Nigeria's growing aviation industry.
"We will make sure this will not repeat itself in this country," he said, a pledge that will be hard to keep in a nation with a history of major passenger plane crashes in the last 20 years.
The cause of the Sunday crash remained unclear.
The pilots radioed to the Lagos control tower just before the crash, reporting engine trouble, a military official said.
The plane crashed along the typical approach path taken by aircraft heading into Lagos' airport.
Stopped making
The plane was built by McDonnell Douglas, which Boeing bought in 1997.
It was a long-range variant in McDonnell's Douglas' popular MD-80 series, one of the most widely used plane types in the 1980s and 90s. Boeing stopped making them in 1999.
Boeing said in a statement on its website that the company is ready to provide technical assistance to the Civil Aviation Authority of Nigeria through the US National Transportation Safety Board.
Dana Air said an investigation into the cause of the crash was already under way with US officials assisting the Nigerian government.
The company said the plane crashed with 146 passengers onboard, along with a flight engineer, two pilots and four cabin crew members.
In Washington, a State Department official confirmed that there were "a number" of American citizens on board, most, if not all, of whom were dual US-Nigerian nationals.
At least six Chinese people were among the dead passengers.
Rescue officials said they fear many more people may have perished on the ground. The airline involved said an investigation had begun into the cause of Sunday's crash.
A Nigeria Red Cross report said 110 bodies had been recovered, with more being dug out from the rubble.
A US official said American citizens had been on board the flight.
The pilots reported engine trouble before the plane fell out of the sky on a clear afternoon, smashing into businesses and crowded apartment buildings near Lagos' Murtala Muhammed International Airport.
Lost power
The flight was bound for Lagos, Nigeria's commercial center, from Abuja, the capital. Two years ago, the same MD-83 lost engine power due to a bird strike, according to an aviation database.
"The fear is that since it happened in a residential area, there may have been many people killed," said Yushau Shuaib, a spokesman for Nigeria's National Emergency Management Agency.
Overnight, officials brought in a large crane from a local construction company to lift the tail of the aircraft and other debris, and brought blow torches to cut through the aircraft wreckage.
The debris still smoldered yesterday morning. Some emergency workers wore masks to try and protect themselves from the stench.
Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan spent about 20 minutes looking at the wreckage with federal lawmakers and said the crash was a setback to Nigeria's growing aviation industry.
"We will make sure this will not repeat itself in this country," he said, a pledge that will be hard to keep in a nation with a history of major passenger plane crashes in the last 20 years.
The cause of the Sunday crash remained unclear.
The pilots radioed to the Lagos control tower just before the crash, reporting engine trouble, a military official said.
The plane crashed along the typical approach path taken by aircraft heading into Lagos' airport.
Stopped making
The plane was built by McDonnell Douglas, which Boeing bought in 1997.
It was a long-range variant in McDonnell's Douglas' popular MD-80 series, one of the most widely used plane types in the 1980s and 90s. Boeing stopped making them in 1999.
Boeing said in a statement on its website that the company is ready to provide technical assistance to the Civil Aviation Authority of Nigeria through the US National Transportation Safety Board.
Dana Air said an investigation into the cause of the crash was already under way with US officials assisting the Nigerian government.
The company said the plane crashed with 146 passengers onboard, along with a flight engineer, two pilots and four cabin crew members.
In Washington, a State Department official confirmed that there were "a number" of American citizens on board, most, if not all, of whom were dual US-Nigerian nationals.
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