Nigerian military plane crashes with 17 on board

LAGOS, Sep 17 (Reuters) A Nigerian military aircraft crashed today with 17 people on board including senior army officers, a defence spokesman said.

He said initial reports suggested there were survivors but it was not known how many.

The plane crashed on a flight from the capital Abuja to Obudu Cattle Ranch, a hotel and conference centre in the southeastern state of Cross River where the officers were due to attend a series of meetings.

''There has been an air crash involving a Nigerian air force Dornier 228. It left Abuja on its way to Obudu. We are not sure yet how many survived,'' said spokesman Felix Chukwuma, adding that the location of the crash was not yet known.

Details of who was on board were not immediately available.

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