Home>>World
Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Friday, December 26, 2003

Over 80 die in Benin aircrash

Over 80 passengers were killed Thursday when a Boeing plane crashed while it was taking off from the airport in Cotonou, capital of Benin, according to the reports reaching in Lome.


PRINT DISCUSSION CHINESE SEND TO FRIEND


Over 80 passengers were killed Thursday when a Boeing plane crashed while it was taking off from the airport in Cotonou, capital of Benin, according to the reports reaching in Lome.

The Boeing 727 was heading to Beirut while it crashed into the Atlantic Ocean after the takeoff, and it was not clear so far which airline company the plane belongs to, he added.

At least 22 people among a total of 141 passengers onboard had survived the crash, according to the reports.

The aircraft, operated by Lebanese-owned Union Transport Africaines (UTA), had been delayed by several minutes from its scheduled 2:55 p.m. (1355 GMT) take off because of technical problems, a senior aviation official said.

As it began its delayed departure, its landing gear failed to re-engage, sending the plane skidding down the beachfront runway and smashing into a building, witnesses said. It then exploded and tumbled nose down into the sea.

Beninese President Mathieu Kerekou and a number of other ministers joined Cotonou Mayor Nicephore Soglo, a former president, at the crash site, witnesses said.

As many of the passengers are Lebanese heading for holiday visits in Beirut, a flight from Beirut carrying members of the Lebanese ministry of foreign affairs was to travel to Cotonou late Thursday to supervise the recovery operations and the repatriation of victims, Lebanese information ministry said.




Questions?Comments? Click here
    Advanced








 


Trade war? A buying spree for cheap Chinese goods ( 55 Messages)

Humanization reform gets started in prison in China ( 2 Messages)

China develops IPv6 technology to tackle IP address exhaustion ( 3 Messages)

Returned overseas students to work in government ( 2 Messages)

EU considers lifting 14-year-old ban on arms sales to China ( 8 Messages)



Copyright by People's Daily Online, all rights reserved