Military plane crash in Nigeria kills 32
The Nigerian Air Force has announced an investigation into the cause of the crash.
All 32 people on board a Nigerian military aircraft were killed in a crash on Monday. The aircraft came down in Ondo state during a flight from Benin City to Lagos.
It was an ATR-42 operated by the Nigerian Air Force. There were 25 passengers and seven crew members on board, the Nigerian government said. According to the authorities, the aircraft was carrying out a routine mission.
Air traffic control lost contact with the aircraft on Monday. The wreckage was later found near Igbokoda, a town close to a naval base in Ondo, a south-western state. Rescue services were sent to the area.
In the first reports by news agency AP, no official death toll was yet known. Reuters later reported, based on a statement by President Bola Tinubu, that no one had survived the crash. The president expressed his condolences to the victims’ relatives.
Tinubu ordered the Nigerian Air Force to begin a thorough investigation immediately. Nothing has yet been established about the cause. No indications have been made public that the aircraft was shot down or that sabotage was involved.
The Nigerian Air Force uses ATR-42 aircraft for transport and for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance flights, among other purposes. The crash took place in a country where the armed forces are regularly deployed for security duties, but the initial statements do not indicate what specific assignment those on board were carrying out.
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The location, aircraft type, number of people on board and announced investigation were confirmed by official Nigerian sources and news agencies. The text explicitly presents the cause and possible sabotage as unanswered questions.
- confirmed The aircraft was an ATR-42 operated by the Nigerian Air Force. — Mentioned by AP and the office of the Nigerian president. source
- confirmed There were 25 passengers and seven crew members on board. — Stated in President Tinubu’s official statement. source
- confirmed All 32 people on board were killed. — Reuters reported that there were no survivors; the presidential statement referred to the victims and their relatives. source
- confirmed President Tinubu ordered an investigation into the cause. — Stated verbatim in the official presidential statement. source
Editor's note
The death toll was confirmed after the initial reports by Reuters and the Nigerian presidential statement. The cause of the crash and the aircraft’s precise assignment remain unknown.Sources
- Military aircraft with 32 people on board crashes in southern Nigeria — The Associated Press
- President Tinubu mourns NAF personnel in Ondo jet crash — The State House, Abuja
- Nigerian military plane crashes, killing 32 people — Reuters
More on this in Dutch media
- De Telegraaf — „nigeria ondo”
- AD — „nigeria ondo”
- de Volkskrant — „nigeria ondo”