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Several dead in Lagos crash

October 3, 2013

A small passenger plane carrying at least 20 people has crashed after take-off from Lagos airport. At least 8 are reported to have been killed.

https://p.dw.com/p/19tGO
Rescue workers gather around the wreckage of a charter passenger jet which crashed soon after take off from Lagos airport, Nigeria, Thursday, Oct. 3, 2013. Officials said there were casualties but refused to confirm reports of several deaths. (AP Photo/Sunday Alamba)
Image: picture alliance/AP Images

A chartered commercial aircraft crashed on Thursday shortly after take-off from the domestic terminal at Lagos Murtala Mohammed International airport.

News agencies said at least 20 people were onboard and quoted the authorities as saying several people had died.

"The plane couldn't lift properly so it just came down," Aviation Ministry spokesman Joe Obi said.

Obi also said there were survivors from the Associated Airlines plane, but he added "some persons are being rushed to hospital," and that "a few dead bodies have been recovered."

A spokesman for the National Emergency Management Agency was also quoted as saying "eight bodies" had been recovered so far, with another person being treated for serious injuries.

The service was flying from Lagos – Nigeria's commercial capital – to Akure, a southwestern town around 140 miles (225 km) away. Seven crew members were believed to be on board.

Local radio and television had reported that the plane was carrying a family and the body of former governor of Ondo state, Olusegun Agagu, to his funeral.

The AFP news agency said the plane crashed in an area where fuel is stored within the airport complex.

In June last year, over 150 people died when a Dana Air plane crashed into an apartment block in Lagos. It was the country's worst airline disaster in two decades.

lw/mz (AFP, Reuters)