The Governor of Lagos State, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, on Tuesday evening, visited the site of a crash in Ikeja where he praised the efforts of all the first responders as well as residents who joined in the rescue mission.
In a statement, the governor’s Chief Press Secretary, Gboyega Akosile, described the aircraft as a single-engine fixed-wing Jabiru aircraft with registration number 5NCCQ.
The small plane with two passengers on board crash-landed into an old communication pole inward Ikeja Bus Stop on Oba Akran Avenue, Ikeja Lagos around 4 pm on Tuesday.
The two occupants of the helicopter were rescued and are being attended to at the hospital, the statement added.
Speaking to journalists after assessing the site of the private helicopter crash, Sanwo-Olu, who stopped at the site on his way from the airport after joining President Bola Tinubu on a trip to Benin Republic, said no life was lost in the unfortunate incident.
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The governor thanked God that the incident did not result in any fatality, saying the extensive investigation into the incident would be carried out by the Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau (NSIB).
Africa Today News, New York gathered that some brave members of the community were the first responders, who rescued the occupants, before the arrival of government’s rescue teams.
An eyewitness, Stanley Mohawa, who claimed to have rescued the occupants, said: “When we managed to bring them out, there was fire. Their money was falling off the plane. They were talking to us and were conscious. But they did not know what happened.
‘Some boys took them to the hospital. We were scared of the fire and we didn’t want it to escalate because of the filling station and a gas plant close by. Besides, we had many vehicles here too. We were able to get about six fire extinguishers to fight the fire.
‘When we started fighting the fire, the AP Filling station saw us and brought their fire extinguishers. We were able to curtail its escalation before the arrival of the Lagos State Fire Service.’
Another eyewitness from the Anifowose community in Oba Akran, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said: ‘When the plane crashed, we rescued those on board. We rescued two of them and took them to the hospital.
‘We had to dismantle the plane because it was not made of iron but fibre. All the documents on the plane were burnt. It was only the engine that was left.’
According to a source from the control tower of Lagos airport, the aircraft operated by Air First Hospital and Tour crashed from 1500 feet after leaving the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, MMIA.
The source also disclosed that the South African-made Javir plane was coming in for an emergency landing but hit the light pole after making the circuit.