A helicopter operated by Air First, with two passengers onboard, crashed and caught fire on Oba Akran.
According to sources, the jet was on a test flight from the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) Lagos and crashed at exactly 13.41hours.
The plane reportedly had five hours of fuel endurance and those onboard were rescued alive and taken to the hospital in an ambulance.
The spokesperson of the Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau (NSIB), Tunji Oketunmbi, confirmed the accident, but said investigations are still ongoing.
A witness, Femi Balogun, said the plane encountered difficulties at the Computer Village axis before heading towards the accident scene.
“This happened at about 1.30pm. The plane was spotted at Computer Village struggling to gain balance. It was seen hitting poles and street lights before crashing opposite a UBA bank.
“The passengers were seen struggling before help was rendered by citizens. They were immediately taken to the hospital while bleeding seriously.
” As for the fire fighters and officials of Federal Airport Authority (FAAN), it took them 30 minutes to arrive the scene. Thanks to banking halls and companies who rendered help discharging their fire extinguishers,” he said.
The jet crashed at the front of my office Oba AKRAN av. Ikeja ( the cctv video from my office) pic.twitter.com/3s0TcqQScX
— donadex02 (@donadex02) August 1, 2023
A pane just flew over my car and crashed on Oba Akran right now and no be feem pic.twitter.com/ChXC6etWgX
— An Amazing African. #SÙÚRÙVIBES (@YokeeGilla) August 1, 2023
Just in: Helicopter Crashed along Oba Akran Road Ikeja, Lagos. pic.twitter.com/QDyYFTXRrC
— naijanews (@thenaijanewsorg) August 1, 2023