A Nigerian Air Force aircraft crashed on Monday in southwestern Nigeria, killing 32 people, 25 passengers and seven crew members, President Bola Tinubu said.
The plane crashed on a Benin City-Lagos flight, which came as a tragedy for the country’s armed forces and the government ordered an immediate investigation.
According to Aviation Minister Festus Keyamo, air traffic controllers lost contact with the aircraft at 0813 GMT.
The wreckage was found near Igbokoda in Ondo State, where rescue workers were sent to the site. The plane was packed with military personnel and was on routine duty when the incident occurred.
The presidency and aviation authorities identified the aircraft as an ATR-42, a twin-engine turboprop. It is designed for 30 to 50 passengers depending on the type of aircraft.
The cause of the crash was still under investigation and the aircraft was likely to be examined, the conditions on the ground, weather and any other causes.
Painful moment for Nigeria’s Armed Forces.
President Bola Tinubu expressed condolences to the families of the 25 passengers and seven crew members who died in the crash. “This is a painful time for Nigeria’s armed forces and nation as a whole,” the governor’s office said.
Tinubu has also directed the Nigerian Air Force to start an immediate and thorough investigation into the circumstances of the crash. “The investigation should establish what happened before air traffic controllers lost contact with the aircraft and determine whether any factors contributed to the accident.
“The Chief of Air Staff has briefed me,” Tinubu said, adding that he had directed the Air Force to investigate the cause of the crash so that this would prevent similar incidents from happening in the future.
The aircraft came down near a naval base in Igbokoda, in Ondo State. Videos and pictures posted on social media showed people gathered near a river and the search crews searching the area. Boats were also used during the search around the crash site.
Three-Day National Mourning Declared
After the deaths, President Tinubu declared three days of national mourning for the Air Force personnel who died. Flags across the country were ordered to be flown at half-staff in respect for those who lost their lives.
The Nigerian presidency said the identities of those killed will be made public after their families have been formally informed. Recovery and identification procedures should continue as part of the response to the crash.
Residents living near the crash site also said they heard the aircraft shortly before it went down. Dayo Akinte, 39, a firewood seller who lives about a kilometre away, said she heard a sound similar to thunder around the time of the incident.
A person fishing in a swamp discovered the crash and informed the naval base and local residents, Akinte said. A number of aircraft had also been flying over the area after the accident, as emergency and recovery work continued, she said.
The crash occurred in Igbokoda in Ilaje Local Government Area of Ondo State, a region of oil-producing southwestern Nigeria. It was also very remote and with rivers, and rescue teams searching the wreckage and finding those who had been killed were at a premium when rescue teams were doing so.
The accident is one of Nigeria’s deadliest military aviation accidents in recent years. A President's investigation will detail the flight, the aircraft and how things went wrong. The official answers are not out yet for the accident but until now the government has not publicly blamed it on any cause.
Nigeria's tragedy has triggered national mourning in the country and families of the victims are mourning for lost lives. The three-day mourning period is meant to honour the Air Force personnel and other passengers who died on board, as the investigation is yet to be done into what happened.
