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Nigerian President Summons All Airline Operators After Deadly Air Crash

Posted on: Monday, 12 December 2005, 09:00 CST

Nigerian president summons all airline operators after deadly air crash

LAGOS, Dec. 11 (Xinhua) -- Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo has summoned all airline operators in the west African country to a crucial meeting with him next week, a presidential statement said on Sunday after a deadly plane crash killed 105 people on board.

The meeting, scheduled for the banquet hall of the state house in the capital Abuja by noon on Tuesday, is to underscore "the grave and growing concern for the industry," said the statement singed by Obasanjo's spokeswoman Oluremi Oyo.

"All stakeholders in Nigeria's aviation sector are expected at the meeting," the statement said. Obasanjo "is to personally preside over the meeting."

"It is expected that conclusions reached at the meeting will help to give more practical effect to the president's avowed determination to carry out urgent and much needed reforms in Nigeria's aviation industry," it added.

It further said that Obasanjo shared the deep pain and grief of the families of all victims of the Sosoliso Airlines plane crash and was "particularly saddened by the untimely and abrupt termination of the lives of many young school children who were on their way home for the Christmas holiday."

He expressed his sincerest condolences to their parents and the families of other victims of the plane crash, it said.

In keeping with his feelings of immense national loss, the president had canceled a scheduled state visit to Portugal which was due to start on Sunday.

The Sosoliso Airlines flight traveling from Abuja crashed and burst into flames on Saturday on a final touch down to the runway in the southern Nigerian oil city of Port Harcourt.

Three of the seven survivors died in the hospital on Sunday, bringing the death toll to 105. Most of the passengers killed are students from an Abuja school returning home for the holidays.

Aviation officials originally said the DC-9 aircraft was carrying 110 people, but on Sunday, an official manifest issued by the airline showed it had only 102 passengers and seven crew on board.

Source: Xinhua News Agency - CEIS

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