The casket carrying the corpse of Chief Olusegun Agagu, the former governor of Ondo state was found intact in the rubble of the Associated Airline plane that crashed in Lagos Nigeria today. But two of Agagu’s children, a son and a daughter, did not survive. It could not be confirmed if another son who was also accompanying the corpse, was among the five survivors of the crash.
FAAN in a statement had said 15 people died in the plane, while 5 survived. The five are being treated in the hospital. The Associated airlines plane crashed on Thursday morning, minutes after taking off at the Murtala Muhammed International in Lagos, southwestern Nigeria, aviation authorities said.
The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, FAAN, said the crash occurred at 9.32 am. The propeller aircraft marked 5N-BJY crashed on its way Akure, the Ondo State Capital with 20 passengers on board, authorities said. It was not clear if that figure included crew members.
“We confirm today the crash of an Embraer 120 (plane) belonging to Associated airlines,” the statement read. “The rescue operation commenced immediately with all the relevant agencies moving enmasse to the crash site,” FAAN said.
An eyewitness, Ezekwem Eric, who watched the plane as it went down told Channels Television, in a telephone interview that the “plane was not high” adding that he “noticed that something was wrong with the plane”.
He noted that “suddenly the plane started descending on a fast speed inside the depot where they house fuel and fell”.
He further adds that big trucks carrying fuel were seen driving out of the facility for safety purposes before “the fire service arrived the scene of the crash”.
Channels Television’s Henry Ogunjimi, who is at the crash site, reports that search and rescue operatives have taken custody of a coffin that is believed to be carrying the corpse of the late governor.
He also reports a tussle between the police, Red Cross officials, Nigeria Airforce officials and other uniformed agencies over who should take custody of the coffin.
He adds that the officials are fighting over who should be in charge of controlling the crowd at the site of the crash, noting that about four ambulances are on ground to take the corpses brought out of the crashed plane.
There have been conflicting reports as to how many people survived the crash with the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) saying 6 while the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) are saying 5.
Authorities said the black box of the crashed plane has been found and some survivors were already being treated at the hospital.
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