By Franca Gbabo and Shabtai Gold –
ABUJA, Nigeria — A domestic passenger plane on Sunday crashed into a populated area of Lagos, Nigeria’s largest city, killing at least 150 people, authorities reported.
The Dana Airlines plane, identified as a Boeing MD83, seemed to have burst into flames as it hit the ground.
The plane apparently hit a power line before slamming into a residential building complex, which then caught on fire.
Harold Denuren of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority said he did not believe any passengers survived. Media reported that at least 147 passengers were on the flight. There were also casualties on the ground.
The aviation authority said the plane had taken off from the capital, Abuja, and was flying to in Lagos when it crashed shortly after 4 p.m. local time.
The accident was in the city’s heavily populated Iju-Ishaga district, near the airport.
Yushau Shuaib, a spokesman for the National Emergency Agency, said the death toll could not be confirmed.
