Nigeria will begin three days of national mourning on Monday after an unexplained plane crash killed 117 passengers and crew flying from Lagos to the capital Abuja, the federal government announced.
”The federal government regards this as a national disaster and President Olusegun Obasanjo has therefore declared a three day mourning period from Monday, during which flags must fly at half mast throughout the country as a mark of respect and honour for all those who lost their lives,” said a statement from the secretary to the government Uffot Ekaette, Nigeria’s top civil servant.
Obasanjo’s spokesperson Remi Oyo said that the president had cancelled all his engagements on Monday and Tuesday.
Bellview Flight 201, a Boeing 737 carrying 111 passengers and six crew, took off from Lagos at around 7.50pm (6.50am GMT) on Saturday on a scheduled shuttle run to Abuja.
Within three minutes it lost contact with air traffic control and shortly afterwards it hit the outskirts of a village, Lissa, on the northern edge of the greater Lagos area. Everyone on board was killed and the plane was completely destroyed. Some witnesses said it exploded in mid-air.
South African television producer Adele Lorenzo was among the dead, The Star newspaper reported on Monday.
It said Lorenzo (31) was on assignment in Nigeria for Africa Report that produces programmes on business in Nigeria.
Lorenzo, a former Herzlia High School pupil, was from Sea Point in Cape Town.
‘Nobody is telling us anything’
Relatives of the passengers and crew were torn between rage and desperate prayers on Sunday as they awaited news of their loved one’s in Lagos’ chaotic airport.
There were staff on hand to answer the questions of the grief-stricken relatives, who waited for hours in sweltering heat for news of what had become of the jet since it lost contact with air traffic control shortly after take-off at nightfall on Saturday.
Apart from the passenger manifest which the airline pasted on a wall at the airport, they said no further information was forthcoming from the officials more than 18 hours after the crash.
”My brother Olaoluwa Omotade was on the flight. I have been at the airport since 6am but we are not sure of the fate of the passengers. Nobody is telling us anything,” lamented Tayo Oguntula, a middle-aged Lagos businessman, who was accompanied by worried relations.
Rasheed Lawal said his 41-year-old brother Roberts Afolabi was in high spirits when he dropped him at the airport on Saturday.
”He was all smiles and we bid him goodbye, and now this,” he sighed.
Lawal said he was still hopeful that his brother would survive the accident.
”I am praying very hard. Please join us in prayer,” he said.
He blamed the airline for its poor handling of the crisis.
”We have not heard anything from them. It is unfair and irresponsible of Bellview to keep us in the dark,” he said.
”Look at that lady. She is the only staff in sight. She is even not saying anything,” he said, pointing to a ticket clerk on the airline desk in the departure hall.
George Ikenwe said he received the news that his brother-in-law Andy Wandi was involved in the crash from his wife in Abuja.
”It was his wife, my sister, who called to inform me that he had not arrived in Abuja. Later I heard that a Bellview plane had crashed. I quickly rushed to the airport to see things for myself,” he said.
”But since morning, there have been conflicting reports on the crash. What type of country is this? More than 12 hours after the crash, neither the airline nor the airport authorities can give the true position of things,” he said.
”The situation is becoming hopeless,” he said.
Airforce officer Daltu Elisha said despite the disturbing reports he was still hopeful.
”I have been praying since morning for my cousin and other passengers on that flight. I hope nothing terrible has happened to them. I have called his number but it is not going through,” he said.
But 36-year-old housewife Olufunmilayo Afuwape said she believed that God would save her uncle who was on the flight.
”My uncle will survive in Jesus’ name. The annoying thing is the lack of information from the airline. They say they are still investigating. What are they investigating since yesterday?” she asked.
A dozen of other distraught people refused to talk, choosing instead to engage themselves in prayers. As one young woman collapsed sobbing, a friend wiped off her tears with a handkerchief.
”We should not lose hope yet,” the friend told her, cuddling her. – AFP
