Nigerian military plane crashes; all 25 aboard are dead
Nigeria's Air Force confirmed no one survived the ATR-42 that went down in a swamp in Ondo. The toll aboard was revised from 32 to 25.
A Nigerian Air Force ATR-42 crashed on Monday, Oct. 5, in a swamp near Igbokoda, a town in Ondo state in the country's southwest, where a naval base is located. No one survived, the air force said, as reported by Premium Times, a Nigerian news outlet.
The aircraft, registration NAF 931, was flying from Benin City to Lagos on what was described as a routine patrol and maritime surveillance mission. Air traffic control lost contact at 9:13 a.m. local time, according to Al Jazeera.
A figure that changed
Early reports spoke of 32 people aboard: 25 passengers and 7 crew. The official list released by the air force corrects that to 25 occupants, according to Premium Times: 5 crew and 20 passengers, most of them military and six of them civilians. The gap matters to families, because it defines who is being searched for and mourned. A report by This Day, which still headlines 32 dead, places the crash a day later; the other two sources say Monday.
Aviation Minister Festus Keyamo said the wreckage had been located and that search and rescue continued. A local traditional ruler, Oba Afolabi Odidiomo, said there were no survivors, according to This Day.
President Bola Tinubu declared three days of mourning and ordered flags flown at half-staff. Sunday Aneke, who heads the Air Staff, called for a thorough investigation.
What caused the crash, and why civilians were aboard a surveillance flight, remains unknown. The air force has not released an answer to either question.
