Anguish, anger and wailing yesterday trailed the recovery of 157 bodies at the site of Dana plane which crashed at about 3.45pm in Iju-Ishaga, a Lagos suburb, on Sunday. Also yesterday, President Goodluck Jonathan visited the site of the ill-fated Dana Air MD 83 Flight.
The President was accompanied by Gov. Babatunde Fashola and the Acting Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Abubakar, as well as some members of the National Assembly.
He commiserated with the bereaved families ``I express personal condolences and that of the country as a whole to the families of those who have directly lost their dear ones.
``It is a sad development to the whole country and that is why the Federal Government has come to physically assess the situation on ground here in Lagos,’’ Jonathan said.
He noted that all the laws governing the aviation sector were being adhered to in the country and expressed government’s commitment to the improvement of infrastructure in the sector. ``As a nation, we have been working very hard to improve the aviation infrastructure in the country. `Most of you who have travelled a lot would have seen improvement in infrastructure going on in our airports, but this one is a major setback.”
There were 153 passengers and crew when the plane which took off from Abuja developed a fault mid-air as it was about to land in Lagos. The plane crashed into four buildings, killing about 30 people on the ground. The bodies were yesterday brought to the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, (LASUTH), Ikeja in a fleet of ambulances even as the bereaved families had stormed the hospital as early as 7 am to identify their loved ones.
As the bodies arrived at LASUTH, some of them who were burnt beyond recognition, were transferred to Mainland General Hospital mortuary which LASUTH authorities said was to facilitate easy identification by the families.
When Daily Sun visited the scene on Olaniyi Street, Iju-Ishaga yesterday, security agencies had cordoned off the area, thereby making it extremely difficult for on-lookers and sympathizers to gain access to the venue unlike the rowdy situation on Sunday.
As early as 9.am, scores of bereaved families had besieged the scene to identify the bodies, but were prevented by officials of the rescue agencies, urging them to be patient until the operation is concluded.
In an interview with Daily Sun, a visibly shaken Rear Admiral Joe Aikhomu from the Naval Headquarters caught a pitiable sight as he looked dejected and worried.
Aikhomu who claimed to be an uncle to the late Ehimen Aikhomu, son of the late military vice president, Admiral Augustus Aikhomu, said he was at the scene to identify the body of his cousin. “As you can see, I am here to identify the corpse of my relation but I am told that can’t be done now because rescue operation is still ongoing, hence, the need to take my leave and return later,” he said.
Also speaking, the Unit Commander, Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) Ewekoro,Ogun State and the Commander for the plane crash rescue operation, Mr. Fatai Bakare-Adesina informed that all the security agencies-Red Cross, Civil Defence, Fire Service, Police and others are working in unison to ensure a hitch-free rescue operation.Chairman of Lagos State chapter of the Nigerian Red Cross, Society, Mr. Onibudu Mobolaji, said a Help Desk to rehabilitate displaced persons, had been set up.
Meanwhile, Mr Bakare-Adesina, said several items ranging from cash and other valuable items had been recovered from the scene and are well documented for the purpose of proper identification from the affected families.
On the rescue team were National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) red by Director-General, Alhaji Mohammed Sidi. According to the Deputy Director, Operations, Mr. Osuwa Martins, NEMA is a co-ordinating body that is making sure that the crash site is combed. He listed other agencies working with his team to include the Julius Berger, Red Cross, FRSC, Fire Service, LASTMA, the Police, Army, Nigerian Civil Defence Corps.
Osu said: “ The police are here to mainatain law and order, road safety are taking charge of the road to ensure that there is no traffic jam, fire service is putting out the fire, Civil defence Corps are controlling the crowd while the Red Cross are supplying relief materials.
At LASUTH, the Chief Medical Director, (CMD) Prof. Francis Wale Oke, said the hospital was the designated centre of operation,therefore all recovered bodies arrive LASUTH first,before pathologists determine which corpse stays in their morgue and those that will be transferred to Mainland Hospital mortuary.
Oke disclosed that bodies that can be identified were deposited at LASUTH mortuary,while those burnt beyond recognition were being transferred to the Mainland where they will remain until pathological analysis of their tissues will be used to identify them.
The CMD said: “We were on ground as soon as we heard there was a plane crash. We were able to get surgeons, psychiatrists, orthopaedic surgeons, general surgeons, pharmacists, blood banks, haematologists because we realized that they might be bringing in people with trauma . “ We organized about 20 to 30 doctors, even the medical students came out to assist us. We were anticipating that per chance some of them might be brought here,since LASUTH is the closest teaching hospital to the scene of the crash.
We were also in contact with the Health Service Commission (HSC), because of the General Hospitals around the crash site such as Agege and Ifako. “ LASUTH was used as a key centre of operation.About 30 to 40 minutes after the plane crash, the ambulance brought eight charred bodies , one of which were identified because the identity card fell off his pockets and they were taken to the mortuary. Later, two other ambulances came in with four people who were in the house where the plane crash into.
“ There was one man who had no scratch at all. There was a little girl who had a little scratch. They were both discharged yesterday to go home. We had one young boy who was struck in the back by an object. Obviously falling from the sky, I guess it might be from the plane. And there was another man who had a fracture or dislocation of the left, upper humerus” he said.
On payment, he said,” people that were brought in within the first 24 hours, will be treated free of charge, that had been the government’s position.
The President was accompanied by Gov. Babatunde Fashola and the Acting Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Abubakar, as well as some members of the National Assembly.
He commiserated with the bereaved families ``I express personal condolences and that of the country as a whole to the families of those who have directly lost their dear ones.
``It is a sad development to the whole country and that is why the Federal Government has come to physically assess the situation on ground here in Lagos,’’ Jonathan said.
He noted that all the laws governing the aviation sector were being adhered to in the country and expressed government’s commitment to the improvement of infrastructure in the sector. ``As a nation, we have been working very hard to improve the aviation infrastructure in the country. `Most of you who have travelled a lot would have seen improvement in infrastructure going on in our airports, but this one is a major setback.”
There were 153 passengers and crew when the plane which took off from Abuja developed a fault mid-air as it was about to land in Lagos. The plane crashed into four buildings, killing about 30 people on the ground. The bodies were yesterday brought to the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, (LASUTH), Ikeja in a fleet of ambulances even as the bereaved families had stormed the hospital as early as 7 am to identify their loved ones.
As the bodies arrived at LASUTH, some of them who were burnt beyond recognition, were transferred to Mainland General Hospital mortuary which LASUTH authorities said was to facilitate easy identification by the families.
When Daily Sun visited the scene on Olaniyi Street, Iju-Ishaga yesterday, security agencies had cordoned off the area, thereby making it extremely difficult for on-lookers and sympathizers to gain access to the venue unlike the rowdy situation on Sunday.
As early as 9.am, scores of bereaved families had besieged the scene to identify the bodies, but were prevented by officials of the rescue agencies, urging them to be patient until the operation is concluded.
In an interview with Daily Sun, a visibly shaken Rear Admiral Joe Aikhomu from the Naval Headquarters caught a pitiable sight as he looked dejected and worried.
Aikhomu who claimed to be an uncle to the late Ehimen Aikhomu, son of the late military vice president, Admiral Augustus Aikhomu, said he was at the scene to identify the body of his cousin. “As you can see, I am here to identify the corpse of my relation but I am told that can’t be done now because rescue operation is still ongoing, hence, the need to take my leave and return later,” he said.
Also speaking, the Unit Commander, Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) Ewekoro,Ogun State and the Commander for the plane crash rescue operation, Mr. Fatai Bakare-Adesina informed that all the security agencies-Red Cross, Civil Defence, Fire Service, Police and others are working in unison to ensure a hitch-free rescue operation.Chairman of Lagos State chapter of the Nigerian Red Cross, Society, Mr. Onibudu Mobolaji, said a Help Desk to rehabilitate displaced persons, had been set up.
Meanwhile, Mr Bakare-Adesina, said several items ranging from cash and other valuable items had been recovered from the scene and are well documented for the purpose of proper identification from the affected families.
On the rescue team were National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) red by Director-General, Alhaji Mohammed Sidi. According to the Deputy Director, Operations, Mr. Osuwa Martins, NEMA is a co-ordinating body that is making sure that the crash site is combed. He listed other agencies working with his team to include the Julius Berger, Red Cross, FRSC, Fire Service, LASTMA, the Police, Army, Nigerian Civil Defence Corps.
Osu said: “ The police are here to mainatain law and order, road safety are taking charge of the road to ensure that there is no traffic jam, fire service is putting out the fire, Civil defence Corps are controlling the crowd while the Red Cross are supplying relief materials.
At LASUTH, the Chief Medical Director, (CMD) Prof. Francis Wale Oke, said the hospital was the designated centre of operation,therefore all recovered bodies arrive LASUTH first,before pathologists determine which corpse stays in their morgue and those that will be transferred to Mainland Hospital mortuary.
Oke disclosed that bodies that can be identified were deposited at LASUTH mortuary,while those burnt beyond recognition were being transferred to the Mainland where they will remain until pathological analysis of their tissues will be used to identify them.
The CMD said: “We were on ground as soon as we heard there was a plane crash. We were able to get surgeons, psychiatrists, orthopaedic surgeons, general surgeons, pharmacists, blood banks, haematologists because we realized that they might be bringing in people with trauma . “ We organized about 20 to 30 doctors, even the medical students came out to assist us. We were anticipating that per chance some of them might be brought here,since LASUTH is the closest teaching hospital to the scene of the crash.
We were also in contact with the Health Service Commission (HSC), because of the General Hospitals around the crash site such as Agege and Ifako. “ LASUTH was used as a key centre of operation.About 30 to 40 minutes after the plane crash, the ambulance brought eight charred bodies , one of which were identified because the identity card fell off his pockets and they were taken to the mortuary. Later, two other ambulances came in with four people who were in the house where the plane crash into.
“ There was one man who had no scratch at all. There was a little girl who had a little scratch. They were both discharged yesterday to go home. We had one young boy who was struck in the back by an object. Obviously falling from the sky, I guess it might be from the plane. And there was another man who had a fracture or dislocation of the left, upper humerus” he said.
On payment, he said,” people that were brought in within the first 24 hours, will be treated free of charge, that had been the government’s position.
Cuddled from the Sun news
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