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Nigeria mourns 153 dead as questions mount over Lagos jet crash

This article is more than 11 years old
Three days of mourning declared as investigators say inquiry into Dana Air crash in Lagos suburb could take months

Nigeria has said it may take months to investigate why a plane that was allegedly too old to fly crashed, killing all 153 people on board.

Witnesses said the plane, a second-hand MD-80 run by Dana Air, began swaying erratically before overturning as it plunged through three buildings in the tin-roof district of Agege in Lagos. An unknown number of casualties died on the ground, including a young girl and a mother clutching a baby, officials said.

Visiting the site after declaring three days of mourning, President Goodluck Jonathan wept as he promised an inquiry into the crash. "We will make sure this will not repeat itself in this country," he said.

The accident came after a cargo plane crashed in Ghana the previous day, killing 10. Tunji Oketunbi, a spokesperson for Nigeria's Accident Investigation Bureau, said there were no early indications as to what caused the accident. "We cannot speculate. We have just recovered the black box, which we will send to either the UK or Canada for decoding. It is very difficult to say when we will have answers, it could take months."

As US officials began assisting with investigations, Nigeria's worst crash in two decades triggered an outpouring of anger. Sold by Alaska Airlines three years ago, the 22-year-old plane was flying despite Nigeria's ban on airliners older than 20 years. An official said previous problems with the aircraft included at least two instances of smoke billowing from the cockpit. Last month, another Dana jet made an emergency landing in Lagos.

Bayo Oladeji, a former official at Nigeria's federal aviation ministry, claimed airlines often tried to cut corners on safety and maintenance. "Running an airline is capital intensive yet they are not ready to source for the necessary funding," he wrote in the Osun Defender editorial. "I recall one of them approached my boss promising to give him, his family members and staff free ticketing to go anywhere in the world if the minister could play dirty ball with him."

The flight left the capital, Abuja, amid clear skies on Sunday. Some 45 minutes after take-off, within sight of Lagos airport runways, a Mayday signal was sent. "A minute later, the aircraft was found to have crashed," aviation minister Stella Oduah said at a press conference where she also cried. As nightfall approached, dozens of ambulances from neighbouring states left the crash site.

Thousand-strong crowds that swarmed over the initial smouldering wreck, preventing ambulances from reaching the scene, had thinned out. But police lashed out at hundreds as they clambered over walls to watch bulldozers clearing the twisted metal. "We hope the wreck will be cleared by today. More than 100 bodies have been recovered, but we haven't been able to shift the main hull yet to remove [all the bodies]," said Timothy Oladipo, a Red Cross official wearing a mask against the rising stench near a cracked tail wing. "Yesterday it happened so suddenly, we weren't able to [cordon the site]. But the heat was too much, so I don't think any crucial evidence has been tampered with," he added.

Witnesses in the crowded suburb were still in shock. "The right wing took the top off a mango tree, then the nose went through those three buildings," said Babatunde Sola, gesturing at a gaping three-storey building with a charred roof. "People were too shocked to do anything at first."

"There have been too many crashes in Nigeria. We need the government to name and shame the airlines so that they are forced to sit up," another onlooker, Sherif Anyepi, said to cheers from the crowd.

Dana Air has been forced to suspend operations once since it began operating in 2008, but is considered one of Nigeria's safer domestic airlines. Sunday's victims include a senior official from the national oil company, a minister's husband, six Chinese nationals and several Nigerians with dual US citizenship. A German national is also believed to have boarded the flight.

One victim, Ameena Bugaje, had boarded the flight at the last minute because, according to her blackberry profile, her father believed it was safer than other routes heading south.

At Abuja's Nnamdi Azikwe airport, people desperate for information about relatives were turned away. "Only after people started crying and ranting did the management take some people into their offices," said a Dana official.

In Lagos's Murtala Muhammed airport, where relatives had camped overnight, Dana set up an information centre. Nigeria's chequered air safety record has improved since nine crashes in 2005 prompted an overhaul of the industry. Dozens of flights ply the hour-long route between Lagos and Abuja daily, but poor electricity-generation sometimes cuts out runway lights and radar screens.

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