A light passenger aircraft belonging to the Nigerian military has crashed outside the country’s capital city of Abuja. The plane was obliterated on impact, catching fire, with everyone on board presumed dead.
The crash occurred close to Abuja’s main airport on Sunday afternoon. The plane, a King Air 350, reported an engine failure in flight and attempted to land at the airfield, but failed to reach the runway, the country’s Aviation Minister Hadi Sirika said on Twitter.
“A military aircraft King Air 350 has just crashed short of our Abuja runway after reporting engine failure en route [to]Minna. It appears to be fatal,” the minister wrote without providing any further details.
Footage from the scene circulating online shows that the plane was destroyed on impact and caught fire with nothing remaining except for parts of its tail.
The accident attracted a large crowd of onlookers who surrounded the crash site, another video shows.
No official information on potential casualties has emerged yet, but local media reported that the aircraft had at least six persons on board, all of whom are presumed dead. King Air 350s are small twin-turboprop aircraft capable of carrying up to 13 passengers and crew, depending on the model.
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