Nigeria pledges better air safety

There is a putrid stench at the crash site

Nigeria's President Olusegun Obasanjo has asked his aviation minister to plug "loopholes" in airline safety after the crash of an airliner on Saturday.

All 117 people on board the Bellview Airlines Boeing 737 were killed shortly after take-off from Lagos.

Mr Obasanjo said "lessons must be learnt" from the disaster and promised stricter regulation.

He said there would be a one minute's silence on Wednesday and an interfaith service on Thursday at the crash site.

"I have directed the aviation ministry to ensure strict compliance with maintenance and operational requirements and standards for all aircraft in order to plug loopholes and ensure passenger safety," the president said in his first public appearance since the crash and the death of his wife, Stella, in Spain on Sunday.

Lightning

It is not clear what caused Saturday's crash but he said a full investigation had been ordered and that "no stones will be left unturned".

Investigators have been combing the crash site near the village of Lissa, in Ogun state, about 50km (30 miles) north of Lagos, looking for clues.

NIGERIA PLANE CRASHES May 2002: Plane operated by EAS Airlines crashes in Kano, killing 148 people - half of them on the ground November 1996: 142 people die when Boeing 727 owned by Nigeria's ADC airline plunges into lagoon 85km (55 miles) from Lagos September 1992: 158 people are killed when military transport plane goes down near Lagos Nigeria: Truth hard to find Air disasters timeline

The BBC's Sola Odunfa at the site says there is a putrid stench, with many bodies believed to be buried inside the wreckage in a crater caused by the impact.

He says personal effects and documents litter the scene.

The pilot of Bellview Airlines flight 210 reportedly sent a distress signal just after taking off from Lagos for the capital, Abuja, in stormy weather at 2045 local time (1945 GMT) on Saturday.

John Obakpolor, a fellow of Britain's Royal Aeronautical Society and retired Nigerian Air Force officer, told Reuters news agency that the evidence pointed to a lightning strike as a possible cause.

"If it was hit by lightning - and there was lightning activity - the effect at that level is very dangerous."

Bellview said the 24-year-old plane had been given a clean bill of health by safety inspectors in February.

Bellview is a private Nigerian company, popular with foreigners and wealthy Nigerians, which flies routes throughout West Africa, mainly using Boeing 737s.

Kieran Daly, editor of the Air Transport Intelligence online newsletter, told the BBC's Network Africa programme that Nigeria's air safety record is not great but that "the number of truly serious accidents is not as high as people imagine".

He said those countries with poor air safety records generally had a problem with oversight by the authorities.

Many African countries had a problem finding enough resources and qualified personnel to ensure that rules were being obeyed, he said.