As
Dana Air’s woes continue to mount over its plane that crashed on Sunday
in Lagos, its senior managers of Indian nationality have reportedly
fled the country as Nigerian aviation officials investigate the cause of
the crash.
LEADERSHIP gathered that the managers hurriedly fled because of the
anger the death of more than 200 people has generated and the alleged
Dana Air’s complicity in the crash.
There are reports that the ill-fated plane was poorly maintained and in bad shape when it made its last flight.
When LEADERSHIP called the head, corporate communications, Dana
Group, Mr. Tony Usidamen, he refused to pick his calls and also did not
reply a text message sent to him.
Meanwhile, people living close to the place where Dana Air’s Boeing
MD-83 plane crashed have raised the alarm over the stench emanating from
the site at the Iju-Ishaga area of Lagos State.
The residents of the densely populated area lamented that apart from
the wreckage that still liters their vicinity, the offensive odour
oozing from the site of the crash calls for concern over the state of
health of those inhaling the stench.
Olatunji Lawal, a resident of No. 4, Okusanya Street, a building very
close to the crash site, told LEADERSHIP: “What we want government to
do is to quickly come to our aid by evacuating us from this area. That
is the only thing that can save our lives. “What has happened has
happened. We ask God to grant the dead victims eternal rest. We pray
that God will grant the families of the departed souls the fortitude to
bear the loss. But we who are still alive need to survive. As it is now,
the environment is not hygienic. As we speak now, the stench coming
from the wreckage is odious. We even searched for an emergency clinic
that NEMA said they have put in place nearby to get ourselves treated
but couldn’t find it. As we are now, we need to subject ourselves to
medical test.
“The structural integrity of this house (his place of residence) is
suspect. So, this place is not habitable. When it rained this morning,
the house was vibrating. I had to run out, praying to God that the house
does not collapse on our heads.”
Another resident who gave his name as Pastor Adekunle Adedunni said:
“What we need now is the help of people and government because we don’t
know what to do. They have to compensate the owners of the houses close
to the crash site after the people have been evacuated. The place is
smelling now.”
The concern of another resident was that the people who live around
the crash site coulld have psychological trauma if they were not
relocated. He said the area should be used as a burial site for the
victims of the air crash.
The Lagos State government has however allayed the fears of the
residents , saying the government would fumigate the area as soon as the
various investigations being carried out on the site of the crash are
concluded and the debris cleared.
Speaking with LEADERSHIP, the chief executive officer of the Lagos
Emergency Management Agency (LASEMA), Dr. Femi Oke-Osanyitolu, said
efforts were being intensified to get the remaining bodies from the
planes and houses affected by the crash, adding that the state
government was too proactive to allow the issue of epidemic outbreak to
occur.
LEADERSHIP
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