Thousands mourn Nigerian sultan death in crash

Sokoto (Nigeria), Oct 30: Thousands of tearful Nigerian Muslims gathered to mourn today at the palace of their traditional ruler, the Sultan of Sokoto, who died in a plane crash along with 95 others.

In the capital Abuja, where the Boeing 737 operated by domestic carrier ADC crashed yesterday shortly after takeoff, the government grounded the airline and said the pilot had ignored a bad weather warning from the air traffic control tower.

Aviation Minister Babalola Borishade told a news conference nine survivors were being treated at the National Hospital and 96 bodies had been recovered from the crash site, a cornfield just a stone's throw away from the airport runway.

President Olusegun Obasanjo, who has declared three days of national mourning for the victims, was due to travel to the northern city of Sokoto, where the flight was bound.

The city was silent today, with all shops and market stalls deserted as residents gathered at the sultan's palace or at mosques to pray and mourn.

''To me this is a terrible event because I loved the sultan.

May the Almighty give him peace,'' said Liman Muhammadu, an elderly trader among crowds of mourners crying at the palace.

Within days, 14 kingmakers will gather to choose who will succeed Ibrahim Muhammadu Maccido as Sultan of Sokoto and figurehead for Nigeria's estimated 70 million Muslims. The kingmakers draw up a list of three names and the governor of Sokoto state chooses the new sultan from that list.

Maccido was a respected figure who helped quell several bouts of religious violence in central and northern Nigeria. Africa's most populous country is split about evenly between a predominantly Muslim north and a mainly Christian south.

ONE CRASH TOO MANY

There was widespread anger over the crash, which was the third major aviation disaster in Nigeria in just over a year.

''Nigeria's aviation industry needs urgent overhaul. This is one crash too many,'' said Ishaq Akintola, director of civil society group Muslim Rights Concern.

Information Minister Frank Nweke defended the government's record, saying it had been working hard to improve safety after a plane operated by Nigerian carrier Bellview crashed near Lagos on October 22 last year, killing 117 people.

''What this shows is that we need to intensify efforts in this area,'' Nweke told reporters at the National Hospital in Abuja, where eight survivors of the ADC crash were in a stable condition while one woman was in a critical state.

The Bellview crash last year was followed seven weeks later by another disaster. A plane operated by Nigerian airline Sosoliso crashed on landing in the southern city of Port Harcourt, killing 106 people, half of whom were children.

After those two tragedies Obasanjo sacked senior aviation officials and announced an overhaul of the sector. A civil aviation bill designed to strengthen the regulators is going through parliament and works are under way at some airports.

The aviation minister said today the government had suspended ADC's licence because yesterday's crash showed the airline had not internalised best practice on safety.

''Notwithstanding the air traffic control's advisory and the deteriorating weather conditions, the crew opted to proceed with the takeoff,'' Borishade told a news conference at Abuja airport.

ADC officials were not immediately available for comment.

REUTERS

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