At least 90?passengers were killed Thursday when a Boeing
plane crashed while it was taking off from the airport in Cotonou,
capital of Benin, according to the reports reaching Lomé.
The Boeing 727 was heading to Beirut while it crashed into the
Atlantic Ocean after the takeoff, and it was not clear so far which
airline company the plane belongs to, he added.
At least 22 people among a total of 141 passengers on board had
survived the crash, according to the reports.
The aircraft, operated by Lebanese-owned Union Transport
Africaines (UTA), had been delayed by several minutes from its
scheduled 2:55 pm (13:55 GMT) takeoff because of technical
problems, a senior aviation official said.
As it began its delayed departure, its landing gear failed to
re-engage, sending the plane skidding down the beachfront runway
and smashing into a building, witnesses said. It then exploded and
tumbled nose down into the sea.
Beninese President Mathieu Kerekou and a number of other
ministers joined Cotonou Mayor Nicephore Soglo, a former president,
at the crash site, witnesses said.
As many of the passengers are Lebanese heading for holiday
visits in Beirut, a flight from Beirut carrying members of the
Lebanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs was to travel to Cotonou late
Thursday to supervise the recovery operations and the repatriation
of victims, Lebanese Information Ministry said.
(Xinhua News Agency December 26, 2003)