The identities of the victims will be
released after their families were
informed, authorities say.
Aviation authorities said Thursday that
13 people were confirmed dead in a
crash involving an airplane that was to
convey the body of former governor
of Ondo state, Olusegun Agagu, and
sympathizers, from Lagos to Akure,
the Ondo state capital, for funeral
rites.
A spokesperson for the Ministry of
Aviation, Joe Obi, said 20 people – 13
passengers and seven crew members
– were on board the aircraft when the
accident occurred, and said 13 people
were confirmed dead, six injured, and
one person unaccounted for.
Early reports suggested fewer
fatalities, with claims one of Mr
Agagu’s sons, who travelled on the
plane, was amongst the survivors.
That report could not be confirmed as
the aviation ministry was yet to release
the official record of passengers.
The Accident Investigation Bureau,
AIB, which also confirmed the
number of casualties, said families of
the victims would be contacted first
before it released the names on the
manifest.
The bureau said those injured were
receiving treatment and that it had set
up an emergency response centre to
attend to families of d victims.
Search and Rescue operations closed
at 12.50p.m, while investigation into
the accident has begun, the bureau
added.
Witnesses say the plane, 5N-BJY,
operated by Associated Airlines, had
barely taken off from the domestic
wing of the Murtala Mohammed
Airport, Lagos, when it plunged into
an open field near an aviation fuel
depot at about 9.30 a.m.
An eye witness said that the aircraft,
which was “shaking in the air,”
nosedived into the ground and
exploded about 15 minutes later.
“When I was passing, me and one of
my friends, we saw the plane turning
in the sky. It looked like the pilot
wanted to turn back but there was no
power for him to do that,” Olayemi
Fawole, who works with a limousine
bus shuttle at the airport, told
PREMIUM TIMES.
“After we saw the head going down,
we started running towards that
direction. When we went there, the
flight has already crashed. We saw
one woman trying to pull herself out,
she was still alive,” Mr. Fawole said,
adding that he counted eight corpses.
Spokesman of the Federal Airport
Authority of Nigeria, Yakubu Datti,
speaking with news channel, Al
Jazeera, said the plane suffered
engine failure.
“Yes, we can confirm to you that an
‘Emperor 160′ belonging to Associated
Airline crashed just after take-off from
Murtala Mohammed International
Airport, Lagos. The propeller aircraft
crashed about 9.42am on its way to
Akure carrying 20 persons,” Mr Datti
said.
He also confirmed the flight recorder
had been retrieved.
The impact of the crash ripped the
plane’s fuselage in two, tore its tyres
and removed the wings from the
plane’s hull.
Fight over a coffin
Rescue officials sliced through the 30
seater Brazilian-made Embraer EMB
120 aircraft to pull out bodies from
the charred wreckage.
The Flight Data Recorder was also
recovered from the plane as fire
fighters struggled to put out the dying
flames from the accident.
The impact of the crash tore away the
aircraft’s tyres and wings from its
body.
Near the smoldering tail of the plane,
a blackened Nikkon camera, an Ipad,
a padlocked travelling bag, and an
almost burnt airplane flight manual
lay on the ground.
A few metres away, security agencies
battled with journalists, with the
former insisting that photos must be
taken after rescue operations.
The real battle, however, occurred
when a badly dented coffin of Mr.
Agagu was forced out of the
wreckage.
Naval officers, fire service officers, the
police, as well as the officials of the
Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria,
FAAN, engaged one another in a
heated argument over who would
take custody of the coffin.
Minutes later, it was unanimously
resolved that the remains of the
former Minister be deposited at the
Nigeria Airforce hospital within the
airport’s compound.
“There was not supposed to be any
fight. In any emergency case within
Lagos State, the incident commander
is the general manager of the Lagos
State Emergency Management Agency
(LASEMA),” said Wale Ahmed, Lagos
State Commissioner for Special
Duties.
Burial rites on hold
The crash brought to a tragic halt, a
series of week-long obsequies that
was to peak with Mr. Agagu’s burial on
Friday in Ondo state which he
governed between May 2003 and
February 2009, before a court
removed him from office.
Early Thursday, officials of the state
government, led by Governor
Olusegun Mimiko, had gathered at the
Akure airport end waiting to receive
his body and guests.
After news of the accident filtered in,
members of the entourage and family
members relocated to the Ondo state
Government House, apparently
distressed, over an accident that has
shocked the nation.
The state government said in a
statement later that the state could
only hope on God for mercy and
strength to bear the losses. At least
one commissioner from the state was
on the ill-fated plane. It was unclear if
the commissioner survived the
accident.
“No doubt, this is an unfortunate
disaster in the life of our dear state.
We can only pray that God will visit the
state with mercy and give us all the
strength to bear these unfortunate
losses,” the statement said.
The government urged residents to be
in a “sober and prayerful mood at
these trying times as God is indeed
the only person we should call upon
in this period”.
Born in 1948, Mr Agagu was former
geology lecturer at the University of
Ibadan, before venturing into politics.
He was at different times Nigeria’s
Aviation and Power Minister.
Mr Agagu died on September 13. The
funeral events began at the University
of Ibadan on Monday, and he was to
be buried on Friday. It remained
unclear whether the family had
rescheduled the burial.
Tributes poured in for the family
throughout Thursday, many
expressing shock at the turn of events.
Speaker of the House of
Representatives, Aminu Tambuwal,
said he was left “sad and
heartbroken”.
The Northern Governors’ Forum called
for thorough investigation into the
accident.
“The safety of the flying public must
be of paramount importance to those
saddled with the responsibility of
ensuring safe air travels, and no stone
should be left unturned in ensuring
this,” the forum said in a statement by
its chairman, Governor Babangida
Aliyu of Niger state.
Thursday’s accident came exactly 16
months after a Dana Air plane
crashed into a crowded Lagos suburb
killing all 163 people on board as well
as about a dozen people on the
ground.
