153 passengers lost in Dana Air disaster in Lagos

A Lagos-bound Dana Air from Abuja, Sunday, crashed into a two-storey building at Ishaga, at the outskirts of Lagos, killing all 153 passengers.

The aircraft, marked 5N-RAM, disappeared from the radar scope of the Lagos Air Traffic Control after communication from the tower to the pilot in command failed, before it crashed into the residential building on Tolulope Street, in Toyin area of Ishaga.

The General Manager of the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA), Femi Oke-Osanyintolu, said that the aircraft hit a power line and subsequently crashed into the building which comprised of six flats.

The aircraft exploded on impact and razed the building, according to Dr. Osanyintolu.

Emergency rescue officials said that they could not yet ascertain the number of people in the building or those who were trapped in the rubble.

In addition to LASEMA, officials of the Lagos State Fire Service, Lagos State Ambulance Service, Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps, Nigerian Red Cross, Rapid Response Squad and other rescue workers were on hand to remove corpses from the wreckage.

On one of the balconies, rescue workers removed ten bodies.

As at the time of filing this report, the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Accident Investigation Bureau (AIB) and Dana Air management were not willing to comment on the matter.

A spokesman of NCAA, Sam Adurogboye, said the agency would issue a statement after getting details of the cras