Passenger jet carrying children crashes in Nigeria killing 103

Passenger jet carrying children crashes in Nigeria killing 103
PORT HARCOURT, Nigeria - Many schoolchildren were among the 103 passengers killed as a passenger jet broke into pieces when it tried to land in foul weather conditions in the Nigerian city of Port Harcourt.

There were seven survivors from the tragedy and these people were taken to a nearby hospital. The Sosoliso Airlines DC-9 flight was flying into Port Harcourt from the capital city of Abuja when the tragedy occurred. Among the 110 passengers, 75 were schoolchildren who were returning home fro the Christmas holidays.

Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo called an emergency meeting as rescue workers worked overtime in sifting through the wreckage to find the plane's black box or the flight recorder. Many eyewitnesses describe the accident as horrific and say that as the plane was attempting to land in an electrical storm, lightning flashes could be seen. It is speculated that perhaps lightning may have hit the plane as it seemed to disintegrate completely upon impact.

Relatives of the children flocked to the Braithwaite Memorial Hospital and the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital to identify the dead bodies and claim them. The bodies are being held at the morgues in these two hospitals. This crash comes in less than two months after a Bellview Airlines flight crashed killing 117 people.

The Nigerians in the area are bitter since many school children lost their lives. Many reporters are also saying that the country's airline system is in chaos and that most aircraft are old and second hand and are in urgent need of repairs. This was the 39th crash in the country's history since 1981.

Meanwhile, an investigation into the crash has begun after a team of investigators from the United States arrived at the site. Tomi Oyelade, permanent secretary in the Aviation Ministry confirmed this and said, "During our investigations, we saw the black box and flight recorder. We have handed over the crash site to investigators."