The plane that was conveying the remains of late former Governor of Ondo state Chief Olusegun Agagu to Akure, Ondo State for burial in company of his three children and close family friends when it crashed after taking off.
Speaking with Newsmen shortly after visiting survivors at the Surgical Emergency ward of the Lagos State Teaching Hospital, the Lagos State Deputy Governor Princess Adejoke Orelope –Adefulire said the state government has 13 charred bodies and seven survivors in its custody.
She called on people whose relatives travelled in the ill fated aircraft to come to the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH) for the DNA test process for the identification of the victims.
“Two minutes after the plane took off from MMIA terminal 2. We were told that there 20 people were on board. Our emergency agencies were able to recover 13 bodies and seven survivors. The survivors are here in the hospital receiving treatment.
The 13 bodies recovered cannot be identified at the moment. But we are still waiting for the manifest of the passengers from the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority. The survivors are receiving treatment here at the Emergency Surgical ward for treatment.
“So what we want to let the public know is that anyone who knows that he or she has anybody among the travelling party to Ondo state aboard the flight not among the survivors should see the pathologists at the LASUTH”.
Also speaking, the Lagos State Commissioner for Special Duties Dr. Wale Ahmed said,” Five of the survivors are with us and one of them is at the Air force Base hospital. I saw her she is in fairly good condition. Then, another person is at the Federal medical centre at Ebute Metta. The person is being taken to our special burn centre at Gbagada specialist hospital.
“This is what Lagos State Government knows and it is what we are dealing with now. Some look very good and some are still at intensive care. The government will do everything to keep the survivors alive. We don’t have the manifest yet. We got there on time and we rescued the people and evacuated the aircraft before we left the scene for the Accident Investigation Bureau”.
Speaking on the process for the DNA test the Vice Chancellor of the Lagos State University, Professor John Obafunwa said ,” One of the things we have to do is to carry out a forensic examination aimed at knowing the cause of the death and assisting in the identification of the victims.
“ We are going to conduct the investigation this evening having been given order by the corona to do so. Hopefully within the next 48 to 72 hours we should be trough with what we have to do.However, we have been told that a number of bodies had been burnt beyond recognition and we will have to identify these individuals”.
The pathologist urged those who have relations who are suspected victims on board to see him, saying,” basically we need to have the children, the sibling, parents we are going to take some sample from them. It is not a thing that s difficult”.
