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December 10, 2005
Nigeria jet crash leaves 103 dead
A passenger plane has crashed in the southern Nigerian city of Port Harcourt, killing 103 people on board.
Seven survivors are said to have emerged from the burning wreckage of the plane.
The plane was bringing passengers from the capital Abuja when it overshot the runway during an electrical storm and burst into flames.
The DC-9, owned by the private Sosoliso Airlines, was said to be carrying dozens of school pupils.
The cause of the crash is not known, but civil aviation spokesman Samuel Adurogboye said the aircraft "ran into bad weather".
"Almost everyone was killed. There was a lot of flames," said an airport official.
"There were many students onboard, returning for the holidays."
Mr Adurogboye said seven people were rescued.
"They were breathing and were taken to hospital. They are responding to treatment," he said.
He did not say if they were passengers or crew members.
A distraught mother awaiting news of her child at the Port Harcourt airport said the plane was carrying 75 secondary school students from a Jesuit college in Abuja.
Safety concerns
A Boeing 737 aircraft crashed in October shortly after take-off from the commercial capital Lagos, killing all 117 people on board.
The flight recorders from that plane were never found.
President Olusegun Obasanjo had instructed his aviation minister to plug any loopholes to ensure airline safety.
Correspondents say Nigeria's aviation industry has grown rapidly in recent years, but many aircraft are elderly and there have been several fatal crashes.
However, Sosoliso was regarded as one of the safer domestic Nigerian airlines.
Posted by Publisher at December 10, 2005 06:21 PM
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