Jonathan declares 3 days of mourning for plane crash victims
On June 3, 2012 · In News 8:52 pm
Abuja – President Goodluck Jonathan on Sunday declared three days
of national mourning for those who lost their lives in a Dana plane
crash in Lagos, according to a statement from Aso Rock Presidential
Villa.The Dana Air flight from Abuja to Lagos crashed a few
kilometres to the airport with 147 people on board, according to an
airline official.The statement said Jonathan had cancelled all his public
engagements scheduled for tomorrow and had also directed that
the Nigerian flag be flown at half-mast for the three days of national
mourning.The President has also ordered the “fullest possible
investigation’’ into the crash.The statement said that In compliance
with the President’s directive, the Minister of Aviation, Princess Stella
Oduah, had already left Abuja for Lagos to oversee the crash
investigations and present an interim report to the Federal
Government as quickly as possible.“The President joins 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 Bauchi State.“President Jonathan
assures air travellers in the country that every possible effort will be
made to ensure that the right lessons are learnt from the tragic loss
of valuable lives in today’s plane crash and that further measures will
be put in place to boost aviation safety in the country.“He prays that
God Almighty will grant the families of the victims of the plane crash
the courage and fortitude to bear their irreparable loss,’’ said the
statement signed by Dr Reuben Abati, Special Adviser to the
President on Media & Publicity.Meanwhile, a spokeman for the
airline, Mr Tony Usidamen, said that 147 people were on board the
plane, 139 of them passengers.In another development,
investigations into crash have begun, the Director-General of the
Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), Dr Harold Demuren, told the
News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on phone on Sunday in Lagos.
Asked if they were survivors among the passengers on board when
the plane crashed, he said: “We don’t believe there are survivors.
“I am talking to you from the scene of the crash. Right now our
thoughts and prayers are with the families.”Rescue efforts are being
hampered by a huge crowd of onlookers, miscreants and
sympathisers.NAN correspondents at the crash site at Iju, on the
outskirts of Lagos, report that the inaccessibility of the site has made
it difficult for rescue teams, which include the police, Red Cross,
Army, FRSC, Nigeria Air Force and Fire Service to get to the
plane.The General Manager, Lagos State Emergency Management
Agency, Dr Femi Osanyintolu, told NAN that the building on which
the plane fell must be demolished for any rescue operation to take
place.He also said that they had to be cautious in demolishing the
building because of its location in a residential area.In a related
development, a contract staff with the British American Tobacco
Company, Mr Isaac Daniel, who resides in a two-storey building
where the plane crashed, said he had lost everything to the
incident.Daniel said that he resided at the ground floor of the building
with five members of his family.Wreckage of the Dana Airline plane
that crashed in Agbado, Lagos State. Photo Joe Akintola, photo
EditorHe said that all his family members survived the crash but lost
their certificates to the fire that engulfed the plane, adding that he
was not at home when the incident occurred.Eyewitnesses said that
three lifeless bodies had been removed from the building. (NAN)
by ROTMANLUV 2023-07-08, 17:34
