At least four people were confirmed dead and six wounded when a US-based Bristow Group helicopter plunged into Lagos lagoon. The helicopter belongs to Bristow, a Houston, Texas-based firm that charters helicopters to oil and gas companies.
Reports had it that the helicopter came down behind a police station in the Oworonshoki area in the north of the Lagos city.
According to the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), two persons were still missing.
“Four dead bodies (have been) recovered so far,” said Nema spokesman Ibrahim Farinloye, adding that the wounded had been taken to two hospitals, where their condition was not immediately clear.
An eye witness said that the ill-fated helicopter made a loud noise before nose-diving into the water near the 12km Third Mainland Bridge, the longest of three bridges connecting Lagos Island to the mainland.
Texas-based Bristow’s fleet of around 500 helicopters services the global energy industry and it has transportation operations in Nigeria and most other major offshore oil and gas producing regions of the world.
Spokesman of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN), Yakubu Dati said that the nationalities of those involved in the accident are yet to be ascertained.
The Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority said the helicopter was en route from an offshore oil rig when it crashed near Third Mainland Bridge, between Victoria Island and the mainland. [myad]
