Jet crashes into stray cow

2005-07-06 12:07

Lagos - An Air France jet crashed into a stray cow as it landed in the southern Nigerian oil city of Port Harcourt on Wednesday, an airport official said, adding no-one was injured in the incident.

"The plane hit the cow on the runway. No-one was hurt, but the runway has been blocked," said the official, who asked not to be named.

"The airport authorities have promised to clear the runway within two hours. Right now, flight operations are halted; no landing, no takeoff," she said.

"It is a puzzle. We are trying to figure out how the animal got to the place. But the joy is nobody was injured and the plane was not damaged. All the passengers have been evacuated," she added.

Passengers at Lagos airport said their flights to Port Harcourt had been delayed by several hours.

The incident is only the latest in a series of freak accidents in Nigeria involving stray cows.

Last month police in Lagos arrested a cow after it attacked and killed a bus driver who stopped to urinate by the side of the road.

And 25 people were killed in May when a truck carrying traders to market swerved to avoid a cow and ploughed into a crowded cross-country bus.

- AFP