Whale blamed for plane rumours
Cotonou - A sperm whale trapped in fishermen's nets made such a noise as it struggled that it sparked reports Sunday that the sound was that of a Nigerian jet crashing into the sea.
In fact, Nigerian officials said, the plane crashed on dry land 400km north of the coast just after dark on Saturday after taking off from Lagos.
Earlier, before the plane's wreckage had been found, fishermen from the neighbouring city of Cotonou had reported a mysterious large object dropping into the sea.
"We were heading out to sea at around nightfall, when I saw a large mass fall into the water," fisherman Pierre Ahouansou told AFP on his return to the port of Cotonou in Benin.
"It was a great big thing. It shook the surface of the water," he said.
Ahouansou's apprentice, Pamphele Folly, confirmed the sighting. Both spoke to a reporter before hearing reports of the missing airliner.
It was intially thought that the sound might have been that of the missing jet, but Chinese trawlerman Li Wong later cleared up the confusion.
"In fact, we caught a sperm whale last night and it made a lot of noise as we hauled it in," he told AFP in Cotonou harbour.
Nigerian officials said that a Boeing 737 airliner with 114 people on board disappeared a matter of minutes after taking off from Lagos at 19:50 (20:50 GMT) on Saturday.
From News 24
An airport spokesman said it was possible the plane had either crashed or been hijacked.
From Skynews