103 die in Nigerian airliner crash

Published December 11, 2005

LAGOS, Dec 10: A Nigerian jet airliner plunged in flames on to the tarmac at Port Harcourt airport on Saturday killing 103 people, all but seven of those on board, an aviation official said. There was no official confirmation of the cause of the crash, but witnesses and officials said it had overshot the runway during an electrical storm and may have been struck by lightning.

“There was an accident at about 2.08pm (1408 GMT). It involved Sosoliso flight 1145,” said Sam Adurogoboye, a spokesman for the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority.

“The aircraft was a DC-9 with 110 souls on board. Seven were rescued. The rest died,” he added.

Officials at Port Harcourt airport said that a large number of those who were killed were young school students returning home for the Christmas holidays.

“The plane was burnt completely. I saw many bodies. Bodies of adults and children. I couldn’t count them,” said Honour Sirawoo, spokesman for the deputy governor of Rivers State.

“We heard that there were some children on board. We saw burnt books,” he added.

The flight had arrived from the federal capital Abuja and was landing in Port Harcourt, the main centre of Nigeria’s oil industry and a base for many international companies.

A police spokesman said that 57 bodies had been recovered and that the seven casualties had been taken to hospital.

An executive with an international security consultancy with staff at the airport said: “What we are hearing is that the plane was struck by lightning.”—AFP

Opinion

Editorial

All out
Updated 25 Feb, 2025

All out

PAKISTAN cricket captain Mohammad Rizwan’s assessment was brutal — it could not have been any other way. At ...
Bearing the brunt
25 Feb, 2025

Bearing the brunt

FOR the past several months, we have repeatedly been told by the prime minister and his cabinet that the government...
Afghan resettlement
25 Feb, 2025

Afghan resettlement

AFGHAN refugees who fled their country after the Taliban took over in 2021, and who hoped to resettle in the West,...
Taliban divisions
Updated 24 Feb, 2025

Taliban divisions

The only workable solution lies in Mullah Akhundzada loosening his iron grip on the country.
Oblivious to drought
24 Feb, 2025

Oblivious to drought

PAKISTAN faces two types of drought: one caused by dry weather or lower-than-normal rainfall, and the other ...
Digital children
24 Feb, 2025

Digital children

AS most parents with young children will agree, the easiest way to pacify a bawling child is to hand them a...