Yola, Nigeria - A military helicopter crashed and exploded next to a college dormitory in north-east Nigeria, the zone where troops are fighting an Islamic insurgency, police and witnesses said on Friday. They saw no survivors.
Four days ago the military reported a helicopter safely crash-landed minutes after take-off from Yola International Airport in Adamawa state.
Last month, Boko Haram Islamic extremists said they shot down a fighter jet and published video showing the beheading of a man friends identified as a Nigerian Air Force pilot. The military said a jet went missing on September 11 with two crew.
The United States said on Wednesday it had refused to sell Nigeria attack helicopters because of concerns it could use and maintain the aircraft, and concerns about the military's failure to protect civilians in the five-year-old Islamic uprising that has claimed the lives of thousands.
Adamawa police spokesman Othman Abubakar confirmed the crash occurred, but offered no details.
Witness Habu Mallam said the helicopter fell in a ball of fire around midnight on Thursday near a dorm at Moddibo Adama University of Technology.
A student who identified himself only as Daniel said he saw two helicopters hovering before one stalled and fell out of the sky with a loud explosion that frightened students out of their beds. - Sapa-AP