A plane making a test flight near Lagos, Nigeria, crash-landed after it nosedived into a busy city street on Tuesday.
“There were two people on board,” the Nigerian Emergency Management Agency announced shortly after the incident, trying to clarify whether they had survived the disaster. Another official later confirmed both survived.
“The control tower confirmed that there were only two people on board, not four,” the agency stressed, adding that the crash created “three craters on the spot created by impacts on the ground.”
The light aircraft, which belonged to Air First Hospitality and Tours, flew over the capital city Tuesday for a test flight when the pilot announced over the radio that he needed to make an emergency landing.
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The plane nosedived as it flew down a busy street, striking a lamp post and skidding along the street in a cloud of smoke before bursting into flames near a gas station, Viral Press reported.
Pedestrians scattered over fears that the flames could cause the gas station to erupt, and traffic ground to a halt as firefighters battled the flames. An official later noted that rainfall at the time helped contain and ultimately extinguish the fire.
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The Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau (NSIB) reported that the pilot and a passenger onboard survived the crash, with the footage confirming the pilot’s safety as he climbed out of the plane shortly after the crash, though he appeared wounded.
Lagos State Emergency Management Agency Permanent Secretary Dr. Olufemi Oke-Osanyintolu also confirmed that both had survived and gone to hospital for treatment for their wounds.
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The NSIB also announced it had opened an investigation into the incident, asking the public to submit any pictures, videos or other recorded evidence in order to create a “comprehensive” understanding of what occurred, the Premium Times Nigeria reported.
The incident follows similar plane crashes last month: In Somalia, a plane skidded off the runway upon arrival at the country’s international airport in Mogadishu. The crash involved 30 passengers and four crew members, with all surviving and only two people sustaining any injuries.
In Sudan, a plane crashed during takeoff in Port Sudan, killing nine people, including four military personnel. A child survived the crash, the local military reported after the incident.
