LAGOS, Oct. 24 (Xinhuanet) -- The Nigerian government has declared a three-day mourning period for the victims of Bellview plane crash that occurred on Saturday night.

    Ufot Ekaette, secretary to the government of the federation, said Monday that all flags should fly at half mast throughout the 3-day period beginning from Monday. Ekaette described the crash as a "national disaster."

    An airliner of Bellview Airlines carrying 117 people -- 111 passengers and six crew members -- crashed on Saturday night after three minutes it took off from the country's commercial capital Lagos.

    Fidelis Onyeyiri, director general of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, said all people on board the plane died, adding "the plane lost contact with control tower shortly after it took off at 8:35 p.m. (1930 GMT) on Saturday en route to the nation's capital Abuja."

    There are more than 10 aviation companies in Nigeria but the planes they are using are almost second-hand ones which have been used for more than 20 years or even 30 years.

    The ill-fated Boeing 737-200 had been used for 24 years before it crashed at a remote area near Lissa Village, Ogun state, about 100 km northwest of Lagos.

    The Saturday crash added to the catalogue of air mishaps in the most populous African country including one in May 2002 when an airliner slammed into a residential area in the northern city of Kano, killing some 150 people both on board and on the ground. Enditem