Nigeria has launched a search-and-rescue operation after a military aircraft carrying 32 people crashed in Ondo state in the south-west of the country.
The wreckage was found near the naval base at Igbokoda, Aviation Minister Festus Keyamo said. The aircraft had been travelling from Benin to Lagos when contact was lost.
Air traffic controllers lost communication with the plane at 9.13am local time, or 8.13am GMT, and repeated attempts to reach the crew by radio were unsuccessful.
The Nigerian Air Force said the aircraft was an ATR-42 operating a routine flight to Lagos. Rescue teams have been sent to the crash site.
Mr Keyamo said preliminary information indicated that 25 passengers and seven crew members were on board. He added that he had spoken to Nigeria’s Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Sunday Kelvin Aneke, and offered the Aviation Ministry’s “total cooperation and assistance” with the rescue effort.
“The wreckage has been located and search and rescue operations are ongoing,” Mr Keyamo said in a statement posted on social media.
Authorities have not confirmed any casualties, and the extent of the damage to the aircraft was not immediately clear.
