Passengers’ Kith, Kin Besiege MM2 Airport

Hundreds of wailing relations of passengers on the crashed Dana Air plane, besieged the local wing of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) in Ikeja yesterday, seeking information on the flight.

The anxious relations include the elderly and children.

Spokesman of Dana Air, Mr Tony Usidamen who addressed the relations of the passengers outside the Departure Hall, read out the names of 139 passengers who were on the ill-fated flight.

He confirmed that 147 persons, including two pilots, were on board the aircraft.

Usidamen told the relations of the passengers that he had no more details to give them, saying that rescue operations were still ongoing at the crash site in Iju, Agege, near Lagos.

The airline spokesman later confirmed to some aviation correspondents that there were no survivors in the crash.

The aircraft, with registration number 5N-RAM, was said to have crashed around 4:00 p.m.

Meanwhile, the Director-General of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, Dr Harold Demuren, who also addressed the passengers’ relations, described the crash as a national disaster.

“We need to be with you people at this point in time,’’ he told them.