Military Helicopter Crashes In Yola

A helicopter belonging to the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) has crashed in Damare, a suburb of Girei Local Government Area of Adamawa state, reports say.

According to reports, the crash happened near a camp built for internally displaced persons in Yola State.

UPDATE: The Nigerian Army has just released a statement about the helicopter crash.

According to it, the NAF “Shark 23” helicopter crash-landed at the Yola International Airport in the morning of November 10, 2014, about 9am.

The aircraft was on a training mission, but, due to unknown reasons, it was forced to embark on controlled emergency landing about 4 minutes after the take-off.

There were no casualties. All the crew members were recovered. At the same time it is unclear how many of them were on board. Condition of the crew members and / or passengers also remains unclear.

The statement by the Defence Headquarters reassured that the NAF would study all the circumstance of the tragedy and had already set up the appropriate investigation panel.

Confirming the incident, a resident that lives close to the scene of the crash, Jamilu Inuwa, told Premium Times that he saw the chopper go down.

“The helicopter crashed in Damare,” he said. “I don’t know if it is a military plane or not,” he added.

Also, a journalist based in Yola, identified as Inuwa, informed that he had it on good authority that the helicopter was on surveillance mission and was carrying arms and ammunition, claiming  there were some foreigners aboard.

“Immediately after the crash, soldiers were drafted to the scene to cordon off the scene,” the journalist told Premium Times.

Inuwa also said the scene of the crash is not far from the temporary camp of the National Youth Service Corps which is serving as a base for the internally displaced persons [IDPs] in the state.

This is happening barely five days after some local fishermen reportedly found parts of Nigeria Air Force’s Alpha Jet (NAF 466) which disappeared on September 12, during routine operations in the northern part of Adamawa State in the River Benue.

The Nigerian military had said that the jet went missing while on a mission in Adamawa State.

Few days after the jet went missing, some residents of Gombi LGA, Adamawa said they saw the aircraft close to Gabun primary school before it may have crashed.

Meanwhile, the Boko Haram sect had claimed to have shot it down in a video in which they appeared to slaughter one of the pilots of the missing Alpha Jet.

Source: Legit.ng