IF Help Had Come Early,Over 140 Persons Who Died In Dana Plane Crash Might Have Been Saved...Residents

• Rescue operations at the scene of the crash

IF help had come early, the over 140 persons, who died in the Dana commercial air plane crash at Iju, Lagos, yesterday might have saved, residents have said.

According to them, the aircraft did not explode immediately it crashed. It exploded after about 20 minutes.

An eyewitness said the incident  happened between 3pm  and 4pm.

Narrating how the crash happened, an eyewitness, who claimed anonymity noted that the aircraft was seen swinging before it eventually landed on a newly constructed storey building.

‘’I was here with my wife and other people when we saw the plane moving around in random directions. Initially we were confused, but when it was getting usually close  to the rooftop of the houses around, we stood up and traced were it eventually landed,’’ he noted.

Continuing, the eyewitness said, ‘’When we go to the scene, we saw the plane on the building and it did not explode upon landing. The only fire  from the aircraft was from the cockpit which was not much. It was only ten of us that first got to the scene. That little fire would have been quenchable if there was immediate emergency response from fire fighters. We were even using sachets of pure water to put off the fire before we heard loud explosion after 20 minutes.’’

It was further gathered that the absence of emergency response from concerned authorities, prompted one of the eyewitnesses at the scene to call the Chairperson of Local the Government, who informed the Lagos State Government.

‘’When we discovered that emergency rescue service was not on sight, my wife had to call the chairperson of the local government, who informed Fashola’s people. It was that call that altered the authorities. But if the rescue service had arrived on time, they would have been saved because there was no fire when the plane landed on the buildings. The pilot of the aircraft was very brave because we noticed it from the way the aircraft was swinging before it crashed,’’ another eye said.

What could have turned into another tragedy, occurred when the men of the Nigerian Army started dispersing  sympathisers at the scene when they arrived.