CNN reportes following:
COTONOU, Benin (Reuters) -- An airliner crashed into the sea moments after takeoff in Benin on Thursday, killing at least 90 people on board and forcing rescuers to plunge into the waves to save others or salvage their bodies.
Benin's Health Minister Celine Segnon said at least 90 had been killed, four of them having died in hospital after being rescued, and 18 had survived. Onlookers screamed in horror as corpses washed up on a beach in Cotonou, Benin's main city.
The Boeing 727's smashed cockpit, twisted metal and battered suitcases littered the shallow waters at the sea's edge.
Relatives and others dived into the waves to try to overturn a chunk of the fuselage, but were thwarted by a wing rammed into the seabed. Some relatives who plunged into the water said they did not want their loved ones' bodies disfigured by fish.
Rescue workers toiled into the night under powerful lights.
Airport officials in Cotonou said the plane had had problems retracting its landing gear after takeoff. It smashed into a building at the end of the runway, exploded and then crashed into the sea at around 1415 GMT (9:15 EST).
Fishermen, navy divers, the army and Red Cross workers searched the shores of the Gulf of Guinea for survivors and the President of Benin Mathieu Kerekou visited the scene.
The plane had been heading for Beirut, carrying members of Lebanese communities in West Africa. In Beirut, people waited anxiously at the international airport for word of survivors on UTA Flight 141.
"I learned that my son has broken bones. But what matters is he is alive," said Ali Bashir, his eyes red from crying.
The aircraft belonged to Lebanese-owned Union Transport Africaines, officials in Cotonou said. Most of those on board were Lebanese but some passengers were from Benin, Guinea and Sierra Leone.
Relatives grieve and hope
West Africa has had Lebanese communities for more than a century and they form the backbone of some smaller economies.
"My brother and my uncle are on this plane. We have called people we know in Cotonou and they said they got on the plane. Now we don't know what happened to them," said a weeping man at Beirut airport.
"We hope they are still alive. We don't know their fate."
Some relatives watched news of the crash on television sets in the airport. Others glanced at other Lebanese, some clutching welcome bouquets and waiting for happy reunions with relatives arriving on other flights.
"It is a disaster for Lebanon as most of the passengers are Lebanese," Lebanon's Transport Minister Najib Mikati said. He added that most of the survivors were Lebanese and a Libyan co-pilot had also survived.
Middle East Airlines, Lebanon's national carrier, said it had been asked by the government to send a plane to Cotonou with a medical team on board.
Africa's poorly maintained airliners are prone to disaster. Thursday's crash is the third this year in Africa in which planes have plunged to the ground shortly after takeoff.
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More from the other press :
A jetliner clipped a building during takeoff and crashed into the sea off the West African nation of Benin on Thursday, killing dozens of Lebanese workers on their way home for the holidays.
A witness said 90 passengers were dead, while a doctor said 57 had been taken to a hospital morgue and more bodies were being retrieved from the water.
The chartered Boeing 727 bound for Beirut had just lifted off from the seaside airport in Cotonou, Benin's commercial capital, said Jerome Dandjinou, a senior airport security official.
"The back of the plane hit a building at the end of the runway. There was a fire and an explosion was heard," Dandjinou told The Associated Press. "The plane exploded and the debris fell into the water."
Airport officials in Beirut said the plane was chartered from United Transit Airlines; but officials in Guinea, where the plan began its trip, identified the company as Union des Transports Africain. Air France said the company was unrelated to the former French airline UTA, which was absorbed by Air France a decade ago.
It was unclear how many people were on the plane. Benin's transport minister, Ahmed Akobi, said there were 156 passengers and an unknown number of crew, while an official with UTA said 253 people were on board.
Dozens of bodies - men, women, children and babies - floated among the plane's wreckage about 150 yards off a Cotonou beach. Fishermen and residents waded into the water to search for survivors and recover the dead.
Television images showed pieces of the plane lying in the surf: a shorn-off landing gear, part of a wing, the cockpit and the rear part of the fuselage, along with an engine.
Tangled wires and metal hung from the ripped-open fuselage. One man sat in the sand, blood running down his bare chest. Another injured man held his head.
One of the Lebanese survivors, Nabil Hashem, told Al Manar television in Beirut that he was in the back of the plane and was able to swim to safety.
"Those in the front were the most hurt," Hashem said. "May God's mercy fall on them. It was a horrible scene."
Ghabi Koudieh, a Lebanese expatriate in Cotonou, told Al Manar that 90 bodies were pulled out from the sea. At least 80 were Lebanese, he said. Other witnesses said there were about 35 Lebanese survivors.
Martin Chobli, a doctor with the emergency medical service, SAMU, said at least 22 people had survived and at least 57 had been taken to a hospital morgue.
"We are receiving reports that more bodies are coming out the water," Chobli said.
He said the army, the paramilitary police and the Red Cross all had rescue teams at the scene.
A solemn Benin President Mattieu Kerekou also visited the crash site.
Airport officials in Beirut said the plane had been chartered by two Lebanese men. Most of the passengers were believed to be returning home for the Christmas holidays.
Thousands of Lebanese immigrants live and work in West African countries.
In Beirut, Lebanese Transportation Minister Najib Mikati said the plane initially took off from the Guinean capital, Conakry, and stopped in Freetown, Sierra Leone, picking up Lebanese along the way.
Guinean officials said Sierra Leone and Guinean nationals were also aboard the plane, but it was not known how many.
Mohammed Khazen, a brother of one of the businessmen who chartered the plane, was weeping when reached by phone in Beirut.
"Six people from my family - including nephews - are on the flight and I have no information about them," he said.
Three families gathered at the arrival lounge at Beirut airport. Some wept; others prayed to God to spare their loved ones.
Zeina Shemaytelli clutched her 3-year-old daughter and wept as others tried to calm her down.
Lebanon's national carrier, Middle East Airlines, was to fly a medical team to Benin, LBC television said.