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Teams Search for Survivors in Benin Crash

Posted on: Friday, 26 December 2003, 06:00 CST

Rescue teams using spotlights searched the cold, dark waters off the West African nation of Benin for survivors of a plane crash that killed at least 82 people.

At least 24 people survived the crash, Transport Minister Ahmed Akobi said. Most if the passengers were Lebanese on their way home for the holidays.

There were fears the death toll would rise as rescue work continued. At least 15 bodies and the plane's severed, smashed cockpit lay on the beach after midnight.

Divers and fishermen swam through scattered pieces of luggage, clothes and wrapped Christmas presents, while tractors tied chains to parts of the Boeing 727's wreckage, including an engine to clear away the wreckage.

About 50 Lebanese gathered along the shore, crowding around bodies - pulled from the water one by one - to identify friends or family members. Thousands of Lebanese immigrants live and work in West African countries.

"This is all too much for me to handle," said one, Akim Toufik.

It was unclear how many people were aboard the chartered aircraft. Akobi said there were 156 passengers and an unknown number of crew, while an official with the charter company, UTA, said 253 people were on board.

The Boeing lifted off on a sunny Thursday at 2:55 p.m. from the airport in Cotonou, Benin's commercial capital.

"The back of the plane hit a building at the end of the runway. There was a fire and an explosion was heard," said Jerome Dandjinou, a senior airport security official. "The plane exploded and the debris fell into the water."

The Atlantic Ocean is about 500 yards from airport tarmac.

The flight originated in the Guinean capital Conakry, and stopped in Freetown, Sierra Leone, picking up Lebanese along the way. It was bound for Beirut, Lebanese Transportation Minister Najib Mikati said.

An Associated Press reporter saw dozens of bodies - men, women, children and babies - floating among the plane's wreckage about 150 yards off a Cotonou beach.

Tangled wires and metal hung from the ripped-open fuselage. One man sat in the sand, blood running down his bare chest. Another injured man held his head.

One of the Lebanese survivors, Nabil Hashem, told Al Manar television in Beirut that he was in the back of the plane and was able to swim to safety.

"Those in the front were the most hurt," Hashem said. "May God's mercy fall on them. It was a horrible scene."

Ghabi Koudieh, a Lebanese expatriate in Cotonou, told Al Manar that 90 bodies were pulled out from the sea.

Martin Chobli, a doctor with the emergency medical service, SAMU, said at least 57 bodies had been taken to a hospital morgue, and "we are receiving reports that more bodies are coming out of the water."

He said the army, the paramilitary police and the Red Cross all had rescue teams at the scene. Benin President Mathieu Kerekou also visited the crash site.

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