Investigators have disclosed that some occupants of the Dana Air Boeing MD-83 crash in Lagos might have survived the initial impact, but succumbed to the subsequent fire.
The Nigerian Accident Investigation Bureau has also revealed that the rescue and recovery effort was hampered by, among other factors, “massive looting” that took place at the crash site.
Although the response of the search-and-rescue authorities was “prompt”, says the inquiry, access to the site for the fire service was “almost impossible”, owing to poor road networks and a large crowd at the scene.
None of the 153 passengers and crew on board the aircraft survived the 3 June 2012 accident.
Pathological analysis indicates that 27 casualties showed evidence of smoke inhalation, suggesting that they had survived the immediate impact.
The MD-83’s forward fuselage had disintegrated as the aircraft came down in a built-up area, colliding with an incomplete building and three other structures.
Fire was fed by some 18,000lb (8,200kg) of fuel estimated to have remained on the jet, as well as stored paper in a printing warehouse, which consumed the entire length of the fuselage.
Source: Cirium Dashboard
