Cargo Plane Crashes At Airport In Ghana's Capital.
A cargo plane attempting to land at an airport in Ghana's capital
crashed Saturday night, slamming into a bus loaded with passengers on a
nearby street, killing all 10 people on board, emergency responders
said.
The crash occurred in Accra near Kotoka International Airport, which
sits near newly built high-rise buildings, hotels and the country's
Defense Ministry. Witnesses said the plane first smashed through the
fence that runs around the airport before hitting the bus.
Billy Anaglate, spokesman for the Ghana Fire Service, said
that all 10 passengers in the bus were killed on impact. The plane's
four crew members appear to have survived the crash and were rushed to a
local hospital for treatment.
"What happened is that the Allied (Air) Cargo plane, actually I was
told, was traveling from Nigeria to Ghana. At the landing it was short
of the boundary, and it went off onto the road side. It crashed into a
bus that was bound for Accra," said Anaglate, who was reached by
telephone late Saturday.
"... (The plane) broke the barrier and went onto the road and hit the
vehicle and unfortunately in the vehicle everyone ended up dying. The
poor people were killed."
An official at the airport's control tower declined to comment when
reached Saturday night, saying no one was available to discuss the
crash. Police officials also refused to immediately discuss the matter,
although a press conference was scheduled to take place later Saturday.
Police and soldiers quickly cordoned off the neighborhood where the
plane crashed. The area is near to El-Wak Sports Stadium and Hajj
Village, where Muslims in the country stay before they journey to Mecca.
Local television showed images of the plane lying across a road with
its tail damaged as the flight crew jumped off and received help from
emergency responders.
Witnesses said the plane was labeled as belonging to Allied Air
Cargo, a fact confirmed by Anaglate. The name and symbols on the
aircraft matched those of the Nigerian air freight company based out of
Lagos. Telephone numbers for the company in London, Lagos and the
Nigerian city of Port Harcourt rang unanswered Saturday night.
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