All was calm and gloomy yesterday in Iju-Ishaga on the outskirts of Lagos, where Dana Air flight 9J-922 went down on Sunday.
Rescue operations have given way to investigation – on how and why the aircraft crashed.
It was, also, time for relatives of victims to begin the terrible but necessary task of identifying their loved ones among the piles of bodies – 148, as at 8.30pm- taken to the morgue.
All 153 people on board died in the crash. An unspecified number of people died on the ground as the plane crashed into buildings.
Family members of victims were at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH) in Ikeja to identify the bodies of their relatives.
Federal Road Safety Commission spokesman Jonas Agwu gave the details of the recovered bodies as males 88, females 48 and children 12.
He said the recovery of bodies would continue today.
DNA tests have begun on the retrieved bodies from the scene of the crash, especially those burnt beyond recognition, according to the General Manager of the Lagos State Emergency Management Authority (LASEMA) Dr Femi Oke-Osanyintolu. He said the tests were being carried out at LASUTH.
The bodies were taken to the morgues at LASUTH and the Mainland General Hospital.
An official said the identified bodies were tagged.
Another FRSC official Mr. Fatai Adesina Bakare added: “ We have also recovered a number of personal effects, like handbags, traveller’s bags, shoes, combs and cash. We have, for instance, an identity card of an employee of NNPC, and from his purse, we recovered some cash, and business cards, which have been lodged. We also recovered a woman’s a purse containing $114 and N4,000 cash.”
“We have created a desk where all those personal effects are been documented and officials who are in charge would do justice to them and ensure that it gets to family members of the victims safely,” he added.
Two Indians were among the victims of the air crash. One was the co-pilot of the ill-fated plane. Rani Malik, the consular officer of the Indian High Commission in Lagos told PTI that the name of the Indian co-pilot was Mahendra Singh Rathore.
Rijo Eldos, a young computer engineer from Neriamangalam in the Idukki district of Kerala, was the other Indian. According to his family in Kochi, Eldos was travelling from Abuja to Lagos to take part in a company meeting. He was working with Reddington Nigeria.
According to the Chinese Consulate in Nigeria, six of its men died in the crash.
A representative of the Peoples Republic of China, who led a team to the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH) said their country was grieved at the unfortunate incident which he described as unfortunate.
He said the Chinese government would appreciate it if the hospital could help to identify the bodies of its citizens for onward repatriation back to China for burial.
One of the victims was the Deputy Managing Director (DMD), Chinese Civil Engineering Construction Company (CCECC) Nigeria Limited
The Accident Investigation Bureau (AIB) has begun investigation into the crash. An official confirmed yesterday that the agency already has in its custody the Flight Data Recorder (FDR) and the Cockpit Voice Recorder (CVR), popularly known as the black box.
AIB spokesman Mr Tunji Oketumbi explained that investigators recovered the black box from the scene of the crash. He said preliminary work had begun on how to ascertain its contents.
Oketumbi said AIB officials, have started gathering the evidence needed for the investigation from the components of the aircraft, which will be taken to a laboratory for test and detailed examination.
The investigations will be carried out in collaboration with the the United States National Transportation Safety Board(NTSB), whose officials are expected in the country.
The NTSB team will be accompanied by representatives of the country of manufacture of the aircraft to assist in the investigation.
Oketumbi explained that nothing could be disclosed about the cause of the crash until the investigators have completed their assignment.
Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) spokesman Sam Adurogboye said the aircraft and its crew had a valid insurance cover - part of NCAA’s requirements for airlines.
DANA Air is expected to pay not less than one $100,000.00 as insurance claims for each of the 153 passengers - in line with the requirement of the International Civil Aviation Organisation ( ICAO).
The expected compensation regime is in line with the the standard set by the ICAO , Montreal Convention, which a few years ago raised the compensation to $100,000.00 from the $10,000.00 stipulated by ICAO, according to the Warsaw Convention.
For the two pilots, DANA Air is expected to pay $250,000.00 each. The six crew members’ will each be paid $150,000.00 each .
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