Plane hits building, explodes
2003-12-25 19:43
Beirut - More than 60 people, mostly Lebanese, were killed on Thursday when a passenger plane bound for Beirut, crashed into the sea shortly after takeoff from the west African nation of Benin, Lebanese airport officials said.
UTA Flight 141 from Cotonou, Benin's capital, was carrying about 140 passengers, including crew members. The airport officials said the airliner was Guinean-owned.
Television images showed pieces of the plane lying in the surf: a shorn-off landing gear, the cockpit and the rear part of the fuselage, along with an engine.
Tangled wires and metal hung from the ripped-open fuselage.
The airport officials said the Boeing 727 had been chartered by two Lebanese men, and most of the passengers were believed to be returning home for the Christmas holidays.
Thousands of Lebanese immigrants live and work in West African countries.
At Beirut airport, the flight was still appearing on the screen, with an arrival time of 23:00 (21:00 GMT).
Plane hit building
The Lebanese Hezbollah's Al Manar television quoted a witness at the crash site as saying that the plane had trouble taking off and hit a building at the end of the runway.
"The plane then exploded and crashed into the sea," the man said. "It's a horrible tragedy beyond imagination," he said.
He said the majority of the victims were Lebanese.
Tens of bodies were seen on the Atlantic beach, witnesses said.
- AP