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| Plane debris scattered across a populated area |
Dana Air flight 992 has crashed into buildings in a
densely populated district of Nigeria's main city of Lagos.It was carrying 153
people on board at the time of the crash The crash occurred as the crew
declared an emergency 11 nautical miles (20 km) from the airport, and a
witnesses said it seemed to be having engine trouble. While approaching runway 18L
for landing,the plane collided with a power line and apparently landed on its
tail.
The crash scene reportedly became chaotic, with The
Sun reporting that more than 500,000 Lagos residents attempted to
approach the site. Crowds attempted to bring hoses to the site while soldiers
attempted to disperse onlookers with punches and rubber whips. The onlookers then
threw stones at the soldiers in retaliation.Water for firefighting was in short
supply for several hours due to the city's dearth of fire trucks and civilians
attempted to fight the fire by hand with water from plastic buckets. Water
trucks commandeered from nearby construction projects had difficulties reaching
the site due to the neighborhood's narrow roads.The situation was almost
chaotic prompting the Nigerian president Goodluck Jonathan to declare 3 days of national
mourning and also pledged that "every possible effort" would be made
to boost the nation's aviation safety.
sources:BBC,Wikipedia,RT,Google
