TheCable

Four people lost their lives while six were rescued when a Bristow helicopter with 12 people on board crashed into a lagoon at the Oworonshoki axis of the third mainland bridge in Lagos.

A resident of the area told TheCable that the incident happened around 3pm.

Fan Ndubuoke, spokesman of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA), said the ill-fated aircraft was en route Lagos from one of the nation’s oil rigs and was due to land at 3:35pm.

Commenting on the rescue mission, Kolawole Akindele, general manager, Lagos State Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA), said efforts were in place to find two people who are missing.

“So far six people out of 12 on board were rescued alive, while four dead bodies were also recovered and deposited at the Lagos mainland Hospital,” he said.

“Two of the survivors are receiving treatment at Gbagada General Hospital, while four are receiving treatment at Afolabi Hospital, Oworonsoki and they are responding to treatment.

“Rescue team is still in search of two others as I speak, while rescue operation is still on-going.”

Ranti Adebule, deputy governor of Lagos, who visited the scene of the crash, said it was too early to guess the cause of the crash.

Meanwhile, the Accident Investigation Bureau (AIB), said it has commenced investigation into the incident.

Tunji Oketunbi, the bureau’s general manager, public affairs, disclosed this in a statement.

The statement said Felix Abali, a commissioner with AIB, is leading the investigative panel.

On August 3, 2007, a helicopter belonging to Bristow crashed inside ExxonMobil facility in Port Harcourt.

Another crash involving Bristow Helicopters also occurred on July 14, 2011 in Port Harcourt.