国际英语新闻:Death toll in Nigeria plane crash hits 15

LAGOS, Oct. 3 (Xinhua) -- Fifteen people lost their lives on Thursday in a plane crash in Lagos, Nigeria, according to the latest information released by authorities in the West African country.

Spokesperson for the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) Yakubu Dati confirmed the figures of the dead to Xinhua in Lagos, the country's commercial hub. Five other passengers were rescued.

He said the chartered aircraft owned by Associated Aviation Ltd was carrying 20 persons and the remains of the late governor of Ondo State, Segun Agagu, when the crashed occurred minutes after taking off from the Murtala Muhammad International Airport.

The accident, involving the aircraft with registration mark 5NBJY, occurred at about 9 a.m. local time, he added.

An MD 83 aircraft belonging to Dana Airline crashed in the area of Iju-Ishaga in Lagos, claiming 159 lives on June 3, 2012.

A Xinhua reporter at the scene said the survivors of the Associated Airline crash were taken to the Nigerian Air Force Hospital for treatment and that the dead were taken to its morgue.

According to the reporter, the aircraft broke into two with its cockpit compartment seriously burnt, while the remaining part that included the luggage compartment, was slightly burnt.

However, the casket containing the remains of Agagu, kept in the luggage compartment, was intact when it was removed from the wreckage.

Fire engines were brought in to put off the blaze. Two cranes also arrived to clear the debris.

Police officers and rescue workers were seen on the ground to evacuate victims.