Engines failed before Nigerian plane crash

The pilot of the flight that crashed in Lagos, killing all 153 people on board including an Indian co-pilot and over 40 others on the ground, reported to the control tower that both of its engines had failed before it went down, the Nigeria's civil aviation chief said.

Director of Nigeria's Civil Aviation Authority Harold Demureen said that there was confusion at the airport before it was learnt that the aircraft has crashed. But Dana Airline, the owners of the aircraft with registration number 5N-RAM, said despite being 22-years-old the plane was still serviceable and operational.

The companies director of flight operations, Captain Oscar Wilson, said that the aircraft was in good condition. Meanwhile, rescue workers at the scene of the crash at Iju Ishaga area of Lagos have recovered about 137 bodies from the rubble including a woman clutching a baby.

The woman and his baby are suspected to be occupants of the building where the aircraft plunged into.

The general manager of Lagos State Emergency Management Agency, Femi Osanyintolu, said the bodies had been deposited at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital morgue.

Five injured persons were rescued from the affected buildings and they were taken to the hospital for treatment, Osanyintolu told PTI.

A resident who escaped unhurt with his family said the plane did not explode immediately. "The aircraft did not go up in flames immediately it plunged into the building and it took up to 10 minutes before it exploded," said Sam Soyemi.