Jet with 104 aboard crashes in Nigeria

Over 100 feared killed in Nigeria air crash
ABUJA (AFP) - More than 100 people have been feared killed when a commercial airliner crashed moments after takeoff in Nigeria's capital Abuja, official and aviation industry sources said.

"The ADC plane took off this morning from Lagos to Sokoto en route to Abuja with around 110 passengers and crew. After dropping some passengers in Abuja, it took off for Sokoto (north). Some moments after taking off, it lost control and crashed," one of the sources told AFP on Sunday.

A spokesman for the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) confirmed the incident: "There was a crash this morning involving an ADC passenger plane. The plane crashed and burst into flames at the outskirts of Abuja. No information yet on casualties," Ibrahim Farinloye
The state-run News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) said top-ranking government officials, senators, politicians, the son of one of Nigeria's former president and an influential traditional ruler, were on board.

It said a deputy governor was believed also to be on board of the ill-fated aircraft, owned by the private Nigerian airline ADC.

NAN said there were four survivors, while rescue operations were going on at the site of the crash, the latest to hit Nigeria's aviation industry in recent months.

Last month, 14 military officers, including 10 generals, were killed when their small airforce plane crashed into the hills in central Benue State.

The military officers were on their way to Obudu in southern Cross River State to attend the annual chief of army staff conference on September 17 when the Dornier 228-221, crashed into the hills of Korti in central Benue State minutes before arrival.

In December, a Sosoliso commercial jet crashed on landing in the oil city of Port Harcourt, killing all the 117 people on board.

Two months earlier, a Bellview commercial plane crashed in Lisa village, near Lagos, killing more than 100 people on board.

Nigerian President has ordered investigation into Sunday's tragegy.

"President Olusegun Obasanjo is deeply and profoundly shocked and saddened by the news of the reported air crash of an airliner in the environ of the federal capital territory today," presidential spokeswoman Oluremi Oyo said in a statement.

"The president has called for a full report and investigation into the crash. He condoled all Nigerians and especially the families and friends and associates of those who may have been on board the airline," she said