|
|
|
| Another airplane of the Bellview
Airlines. (Photo:
Xinhua/AFP) | LAGOS, Oct.
23 (Xinhuanet) -- All 117 people, including 111 passengers and six crew members
on board a Boeing 737-200 airliner, which crashed on Saturday night in Nigeria,
have been feared killed, said a statement issued Sunday by Bellview Airlines.
"We have now located the accident site at Lissa
village, 16 nautical miles (about 29.6 km) northwest the Lagos airport," the
statement said.
"We are trying to determine the possible cause (of
the accident). We have not being able to locate any survivor," it added.
A Nigerian plane carrying 117 people including
several high ranking officials crashed late Saturday shortly after taking off
from Lagos for the capital Abuja.
Local media said among several high-ranking officials
is Chairman of the Nigerian Railway Corporation Waziri Mohammed who is also a
presidential aide.
An eyewitness who gave his name as Avugungu told
Xinhua that the plane crashed just three minutes after it took off.
"The jet airliner obviously had a problem with
engine," he said, adding that after taking off it started to swing and just
three minutes it crashed near Kigawa Air Force base.
The ill-fated plane, which commissioned an
international flight from Accra, capital of Ghana to Abuja via Lagos, was
operated by Bellview Airlines, one of leading local airlines.
According to a Bellview official, the missing plane
"took off at 8:45 (1945 GMT) and lost contact" with the Lagos airport control
tower a few minutes after takeoff.
The Boeing 737-200 normally carries about 110
passengers. Lagos, the commercial capital of Nigeria, is a key transfer airport
in sub-Saharan region offering flights to all big cities in sub-Saharan Africa.
Enditem | 
Breaking
News 
