Nigerian jet crashes into homes
May 4, 2002 Posted: 11:45 AM EDT (1545 GMT)
KANO, Nigeria (CNN) -- A Nigerian airliner on a domestic flight has crashed into buildings in the northern city of Kano.
The airliner hit a densely populated residential area, a spokesman for the Kano governor's office told CNN.
Ibrahim Ado said the EAS Airlines (Executive Airline Services) plane had just taken off from the Kano airport en route to Lagos in southwest Nigeria when it crashed in the neighbourhood of Gwammaja.
Reuters reported that 105 people were on board.
Witnesses told Reuters that at least two survivors were taken from the wreckage of the BAC 1-11-500 aircraft, which crashed and caught fire.
Residents told Reuters that the plane hit a building, ploughed through two other buildings, came to a halt and then burst into flames.
Black smoke could be seen rising from the area of the crash, reports said.
"There is a massive mobilisation to evacuate residents of the area," a Gwammaja resident told Reuters. Firefighters and rescuers were on the scene, trying to pull survivors from the wreckage.
Because the crash occurred in a densely populated residential area, the casualty toll was thought likely to rise.
Air traffic controllers could not say at this stage what caused the disaster, Reuters said.
The last major Nigerian air crash occurred in November 1996, when a Nigerian Boeing 727 flying from Port Harcourt to Lagos crashed, killing all 142 passengers and nine crew members.
Nigeria deregulated its airline industry in the mid-1980s and many companies sprang up to challenge the monopoly of state carrier Nigeria Airways.
Concerns have been raised about the use of older aircraft used by the dozen or so local airline companies. Only last month the Nigerian government announced a ban on the use of aircraft older than 22 years, a move that triggered strong protests from private local airline operators.
EAS Airlines is one of several airliners servicing the country's domestic air routes. Between October 1998 and December 1999, the company took delivery of four BAC 1-11-500s.