A chartered airplane nosedived into the ground and burst into flames near tanks of aviation fuel on the outskirts of Lagos, Nigeria, killing up to 16 people.
Six survivors were taken to hospital, two in critical condition, said Joe Obi, spokesman for Nigeria’s Aviation Ministry.
Mr Obi said 14 people were killed on the aircraft that was carrying 20 people – 13 passengers and seven crew members.
But later, Captain Usman Muktar, commissioner of the Accident Investigation and Prevention Bureau investigating the accident, said there were only four survivors. There was no way to immediately account for the discrepancy, though some survivors may have died in hospital.
Federal Aviation Agency spokesman Yakubu Dati said the Brazilian-made turboprop Embraer-120 crashed yesterday morning shortly after take off.
Police Commissioner Waheed Sanau said the plane was chartered from Associated Airline to fly from Lagos to Akure in Ondo state and crashed into open land near a tollgate shortly after taking off.
Local news reports said the plane was carrying mourners and the body of former Ondo state Governor Olusegun Agagu, who died on September 13.
The pilot detected a fault soon after taking off and tried to return to the airport for an emergency landing but did not make it, said a police official.