Over 100 feared dead in Nigerian plane crash

ABUJA, Oct 29 (Reuters) More than 100 people were feared dead after a Nigerian airliner crashed during takeoff from the capital Abuja today and burst into flames at the end of the runway, media and emergency sources said.

An airline source said there were 114 aboard, not including crew. An ambulance driver at the scene said no more than five people had survived.

The dead included the spiritual head of Nigeria's Muslims, Sultan Maccido; his son, who is a senator; the deputy governor of Sokoto state and at least one other senator, the governor of Sokoto state said.

A Reuters correspondent saw charred bodies amid the smouldering wreckage of the aircraft, operated by the Nigerian airline ADC, a popular domestic passenger airline.

Only the plane's tail, an engine and part of a wing were still recognisable.

State radio said there had been bad weather as the plane tried to take off.

''It crash-landed after takeoff. It was an ADC aircraft from Abuja to Sokoto with over 100 people on board,'' a source in the National Emergency Management Agency said, asking not to be named.

The airport's departure lounge was packed with travellers, many seeking information on their mobile phones.

It was the third major air crash in Nigeria in just over one year.

In October 2005, 119 died when a Bellview Airlines Boeing 737 airliner crashed shortly after takeoff from Lagos.

Last December a Sosoliso Airlines DC9 crashed on landing in Port Harcourt, killing 106 people.

And in September, 12 Nigerian military personnel, mostly high-ranking officers, were killed in a plane crash in Benue state.

REUTERS PB RK2105