BEIJIMG. Oct. 24 -- The Chinese embassy in Nigeria said there may have been a Chinese passenger on the crahsed plane, but that has not yet been confirmed. The embassy is now working with the local airport to identify the possible victim.

    Fidelis Onyeyiri, the director-general of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, described what he has seen as a total loss.

    "We have seen that it is a total loss and that's what we can do, just to go back and see what we can do, just to mop up the area, because as you can see we cannot even see a whole human being," he said. 

    Nigerians expressed sympathy for the victims, including several Nigerian officials and their families said prayers for the dead on Sunday.

    The Boeing 737, which was en route to Abuja, lost contact with the control tower five minutes after taking off from the international airport in Lagos on Saturday evening local time.

    There has still been no clear reason advanced as to what brought down the jetliner, but it was not thought to be terrorist-related.