…It was raining when aircraft crashed — locals

The traditional ruler of the coastal community of Igbokoda, the Olu of Igbokoda, Oba Afolabi Odidiomo, has stated that he initially feared the crash involved a commercial aircraft because of the potential number of casualties.

“I was in court when the incident happened, and I directed some of my palace officials to visit the site. At that time, nobody could determine whether it was an aircraft or a helicopter,” Odidiomo said. “Our first thanks to Almighty God is that it did not happen inside the town; otherwise, the casualties would have been too many.”

He added that the aircraft crashed into the river and a swampy area and that it was raining when the incident happened, leaving the place waterlogged.

“The aircraft did not catch fire, but a substantial part of it has gone into the water. We cannot describe the exact situation for now, but from my investigation and what we have gathered so far, there was no survivor.”

Akintan Toluwalase, a local, said they were outside when the aircraft crashed and rushed to the scene, where they saw some human body parts but could do nothing.

He said, “We were outside when the aircraft crashed. We rushed to the scene, and we saw some human being parts. But there was nothing we could do. The plane was already in the swamp. The Navy personnel got to the scene around 10 am.

Another resident, Abel Bamidele, stated that “It was raining in the morning when we suddenly heard that something fell from the sky. We tried to get to the scene, but we couldn’t see the plane.

“Some of our boys in the community swim in the water to search for survivors, but they could not locate anyone.

Meanwhile, as of press time, the aircraft remained buried in the swamp with no part of its body visible from the surface. Locals were seen paddling canoes as clothes, shoes, and personal effects of the victims floated on the surface.