Nigerians search plane wreckage

AP

Rescue workers collect bodies from the scene of a plane crash in Lagos on Monday, June 4, 2012. A passenger plane carrying more than 150 people crashed in Nigeria's largest city on Sunday.

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Lagos - Nigerian emergency services pulled more bodies out of the still-smouldering, ash-covered wreckage of a plane on Monday that crashed in the commercial hub Lagos, killing all 153 people on board.

President Goodluck Jonathan has declared three days of national mourning and ordered an investigation into the cause of Sunday's accident, in which a McDonnell Douglas MD-83 operated by privately owned domestic carrier Dana Air crashed into the iron roof of an apartment block in the Lagos' suburb of Agege.

“This is really a horrific moment for us here and we sympathise and give condolences to all the victims and families. (There are no) words to express our pain and grief,” Lagos state governor Babatunde Fashola said at the crash site.

“It is saddening, it is simply too much.”

The airline said on Sunday 147 people had perished, but in a list published overnight, there were 6 crew members, taking the total to 153 killed.

“Seventy bodies have so far been evacuated from the wreckage, efforts are ongoing to remove the remaining bodies,” Oke Osanyintolu, head of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) for Lagos state, said.

A crane was helping clear away some of the debris.

Search and rescue teams found what they believed to be the plane's black box flight recorder and handed it over to police, said Bankole Abayomi, director search and rescue for NEMA.

The cause of the crash is still unknown.

Though large curious crowds were still gathering around the scene, they were more controlled than on Sunday, when thousands thronged the streets, blocking access to the emergency services.

“This is a crash site, it is an investigation site and we should keep our distance and allow the first responders to do their work,” state governor Fashola said.

Among the dead was the spokesman for the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation, Levi Ajuonuma, according to a passenger list released by the airline. Ajuonuma was also the only de facto spokesman for the oil minister in Opec member Nigeria, Africa's biggest crude producer.

Residents who witnessed the crash were still in shock.

“The plane touched this tree here,” said Immanuel Shoyimi, a businessman, gesticulating towards a large mango tree in a nearby backyard. “Then it entered into that compound. 'boom!'. I watched for five minutes not knowing what to do. I wanted to call someone, but I didn't know who to call.”

The roof of his house was also scraped by the plane on its descent, he said.

“The shock was too much. Before I knew it I heard two blasts from the plane. Then I saw the tail from my gate.” - Reuters