Nigeria military helicopter goes down with several foreigners on board – witnesses
The Nigeria military said one of its helicopters made an emergency
landing in the restive northeast on Monday, while witnesses and a
security source reported that the chopper crashed with several
foreigners on board.
Defence spokesman Chris Olukolade said the helicopter left on a training mission at about 9:30 am (0830
GMT) from the airport in Yola, capital of Adamawa state, which is under
a state of emergency because of Boko Haram’s violent uprising.
The
pilot executed “a controlled forced landing four minutes after
take-off”, Olukolade said in a statement. “There is no casualty
recorded.”
But the military’s account differed from that of witnesses in the town of Damare, just outside Yola.
Hassan Alimu, who is living at a camp in the area for people displaced
by the Boko Haram insurgency, said the chopper crashed and “was badly
damaged, especially the wings”.
He said there were five foreigners on board.
That report was supported by a senior security source in Adamawa who
requested anonymity. The source identified some of the passengers as
“oyinbos” — slang for white person.
There was no immediate indication on the identity of the purported foreigners.
According to Alimu, four other helicopters were dispatched to the crash
site and the five foreigners were whisked away. He said the
helicopter’s cargo was loaded into military vans.
A reporter who
rushed to the scene and requested anonymity said the military
confiscated the phones of locals to prevent them from taking pictures.
Nigeria’s military has suffered a series of air crashes in the
northeast since it launched an offensive in the region against Boko
Haram in May of last year.
The Islamists have claimed to have shot
down a number of aircraft, including a Nigerian air force jet that went
missing in September, again on a mission out of Yola airport.
But those claims have been dismissed by the military and not supported by witness accounts.
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11/11/2014
Nigeria military helicopter goes down with several foreigners on board – witnesses
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