by Olatunji Saliu
ABUJA, June 4 (Xinhua) -- Gnashing of teeth, biting of innocent
fingers, sorrow and tears were in full glare on Sunday as Nigerians, especially families, friends and associates of the dead failed to come to terms with the latest development in their lives.
Death had dealt a terrible blow on citizens whose relatives and bread-winners had died in two separate major incidents that have now thrown the nation into undue mourning.
The black Sunday had began with a loud explosion orchestrated by a suicide bomber who plunged into a pentecostal church during a morning mass in northeastern Bauchi State, killing at least 12 people. The suicide bomber was also killed in the bomb attack.
Sympathy came from all six geopolitical zones of the West African nation, with each condemning the dastardly act believed to have been perpetrated by some Islamic fundamentalists who usually claim responsibility for such deadly attacks in the northern part and capital city of the country.
Many had already resigned to fate, preparing to mourn their beloved, when the black Sunday got darker and more gloomy as the news of a commercial plane carrying over 150 passengers crashed into a two-storey building in a densely populated part of southwestern Lagos State.
Residents in the densely populated area where the air mishap occurred said a loud explosion had enveloped the area, making everyone scamper for safety. But within minutes, it dawned on them that a fatal air crash had rendered some residents homeless, others severely injured, and many killed.
The plane, a Boeing, McDonell Douglas (MD-83), with registration number 5N-RAM and operated by Dana Airlines Limited crashed barely five minutes to touchdown at the Murtala Muhammed Airport, located in Lagos, Africa's most populous city, killing all 153 passengers onboard, according to aviation authorities.
The crash, the most fatal in the country in the last decade, killed about 40 more believed to be residents of the two-storey building housing six flats each, according to a local Xinhua reporter who witnessed the incident.
Nigeria is seen as a nation prone to crises, outbreaks and natural disasters due to poor management qualities of its citizens, the nation has not been in a more sombre mood as it is now.
The oil-rich nation is now thrown into undue three days' mourning of the dead in the black Sunday incidents, especially the victims of the ill-fated passenger plane. Moved by the loss of citizens, President Goodluck Jonathan of Nigeria had ordered that the country's flag be flown half-mast, while declaring the three- day national mourning due to the heavy death toll recorded in two unfortunate incidents in just one day.
Among victims of the plane crash were students, captains of industries, security chiefs, aviation workers, business magnates, intending couples, a bevy of ladies who had just served in a bridal train at a wedding ceremony the previous Saturday as well as top citizens of the country who boarded the ill-fated aircraft with the hope of touching down the next 50 minutes. But, sadly, the 50 minutes became eternity. It never came and the air mishap casualties were not fated to reach their destinations.
The loss of lives and property recorded at the crash site were enough to make even the stone-hearted weep uncontrollably.
"I join all Nigerians in mourning all those who lost their lives in the plane crash which has sadly plunged the nation into further sorrow on a day when Nigerians were already in grief over the loss of many other innocent lives in the church bombing in northern Bauchi State," said the Nigerian president.
The black Sunday would linger in the minds of the Nigerian people for long because most of the families who lost their dear ones to the crash will forever miss them, according to Tunde Cole, who lost an uncle to the plane crash.
Saying that he last spoke with the late uncle when he was about to board the ill-fated aircraft in Abuja, Nigeria's capital city.
At the crash site, the plane's wreckage and the badly burnt body parts of the victims littered the scenes.
No survivors were expected from such a crash, according to Samuel Mensah, a Ghanaian who witnessed the disaster in his neighborhood.
He said "the head of the plane crashed into the two-storey building while the middle and tail entered the warehouse of a publishing company in the area."
Also speaking at the crash site, governor of the southwestern Lagos State and commercial hub of Nigeria, Babatunde Fashola consoled the deceased's family and prayed for the repose of the souls of all that died in the incident.
"Our condolence goes out to the families of the bereaved. We condole with the families of the pilot and his crew as well as the management of Dana Airline. I also want to thank the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) and other rescue agencies for working hard since the crash occurred. I want to use this opportunity to admonish sympathizers to stay away from the crash site and allow those on rescue missions to do their work," he said.
Aviation Minister of the West African nation Stella Oduah also expressed sadness when she visited the crash site.
"I am extremely saddened by the news of the crash and I assure that investigations are underway," she said.
Another pain in the heart of the bereaved is that most of them will be unable to bury the dead, according to their religion or cultural beliefs because almost all of the corpses were burnt beyond recognition.
Dana Air is owned by Dana Group which is a conglomerate controlled by an Indian family. It has significant interests in various sectors of the Nigerian economy.
The group is known as the major distributor of Kia Motors in Nigeria and bottles the Aqua Dana table water, also having about 10 other different companies operating in electronics, agriculture, chemicals and other areas.
The ill-fated Dana aircraft that crashed on Sunday and identified as McDonell Douglas (MD-83) was reportedly bought from Alaska Airlines, an American regional airline, in February 2009.
The plane was manufactured in 1983 and was initially used by the Alaska Airline for close to 25 years, whereas an aircraft may no longer be air worthy 30 years after it was manufactured, according to aviation experts. The crashed plane would have been 30 years old in 2013.
Special Report: Passenger plane crashes in Nigeria
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