Recovery efforts at the site of the military aircraft crash in Igbokoda, Ilaje Local Government Area of Ondo State, remain difficult as authorities await heavier equipment to remove the wreckage from the water.
Ondo State Commissioner of Police, Felix Ohagwu, disclosed this on Tuesday during an assessment visit to the crash site, saying the swampy terrain, creeks and mangrove vegetation had severely hampered rescue and recovery operations.
Ohagwu said police personnel and other responders had remained at the scene since the crash occurred on Monday, but the difficult terrain had made it challenging to access the site and recover the aircraft and victims.
According to him, he had to use a canoe to reach the crash location for an on-the-spot assessment.
“It’s a very difficult terrain, the creeks, mangroves, assessing the site of the crash was not easy. I had to use a smaller boat, a canoe, to assess it,” the commissioner said.
He said efforts were continuing to recover both the aircraft wreckage and human remains, adding that investigators had yet to establish the full circumstances surrounding the incident.
Ohagwu also confirmed that no survivor had been found at the crash site as of Tuesday, while describing the condition of the victims and wreckage as devastating.
“There are no survivors yet. We are yet to see any survivors. No survivors yet,” he said.
The police commissioner added that responders had found body parts, pieces of the aircraft and passengers’ clothing scattered around the crash area, with some remains reportedly floating in the water.
“What we see is just body parts and the cloth littered everywhere. Passengers’ clothes littered everywhere. Body parts floating in the water, and so on and so forth,” he said.
He, however, declined to speculate on the cause of the crash, stressing that relevant agencies would investigate the incident and determine what led to the accident.
The aircraft, reportedly belonging to the Nigerian Air Force, crashed around Igbokoda in the Ilaje area on Monday. Initial reports indicated that dozens of people were on board.
Ondo State Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa had earlier said in an interview with Channels Television that there was no survivor at the time of his assessment of the situation.
Ohagwu said the immediate challenge was to secure adequate technical support to extract the wreckage from the water.
He explained that the equipment currently available to responders was insufficient for the operation, making it necessary for larger machinery to be deployed.
“We are still expecting a bigger machine to be able to pull the wreckage from the water. We have to pull it,” he said.
The police commissioner said the state was expecting support from the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) and other relevant agencies to provide the equipment required to complete the recovery operation.
He said the recovery of the wreckage remained ongoing and urged caution until the investigation by the relevant authorities was concluded.
