Nigerian plane crash toll 11

Eleven people lost their lives Thursday when a chartered aircraft crashed minutes after taking off from the Murtala Muhammad International Airport here, Nigerian authorities said.

The general manager of Lagos State Emergency Management Agency, Oke Osayintolu, said 11 passengers aboard the aircraft died, while four were rescued and taken to the hospital, Xinhua reported.

A statement from Nigeria's aviation ministry said that 27 people were on board the crashed aircraft.

"An Embraer aircraft operated by Associated Airlines with Reg No SCD 361 en route Akure from MMA, Lagos, crashed shortly after take-off at about 9.30 a.m. local time. The plane had 20 passengers and seven crew members on board," the ministry said.

The aircraft crashed in the fuel dump area of the airport and caught fire, Rask Fadipe, the director of Lagos State Fire Service, told Xinhua by phone.

Fadipe said he deployed three fire fighting vehicles of 10,000 liters capacity each, which put out the fire.

The aircraft broke into two with the front section burnt beyond recognition and the back area almost intact, the fire official said.

The aircraft was carrying the body of a former governor of southwest Ondo state, Olusegun Agagu, before it crashed less than a minute after take-off from the local wing of the Murtala Mohammed International Airport.

The former governor had died a week ago in Lagos after returning from a holiday.

Rescue officials said the coffin had been brought out intact through the assistance of local welders.

Meanwhile, the Accident Investigation Bureau said the two black boxes of the Associated Airlines plane have been recovered.

Emmanuel Dialla, a senior engineer, said the two black boxes had been retrieved from the accident scene.

Spokesperson for the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) Ibrahim Farinloye had earlier confirmed to Xinhua that nine dead bodies were recovered from the accident scene, while six others survived the crash.

The NEMA spokesperson said the cause of the crash was still under investigation by the authorities.