British woman 'died on Nigeria plane crash'

PA

A British woman is believed to have died on the plane crash in Nigeria that killed all 153 passengers on board.

Jill Chime, from Liverpool, said she had seen the name of her sister, Antonia Attuh, on the final passenger list from the Dana Air flight that crashed on Sunday in Lagos.

According to the Telegraph, Ms Chime told BBC Radio Five Live's Up All Night programme: "My sister was travelling to Lagos and that was as far as I knew. I wasn't certain of what airline she had gone on.

"We were immediately concerned because we had spoken to my sister in the morning and she was telling us she was going to Lagos that afternoon.
"When I heard about the crash I had to try and find out what airline she had taken."

A cousin who was due to collect Ms Attuh from the airport told Ms Chime that she was on board the ill-fated flight, which was also confirmed by Ms Attuh's husband, who saw her off at the airport.

Another sister has flown to Nigeria to help look for Ms Attuh's body. Ms Chime added: "I also have my cousin who yesterday had gone through 30-odd bodies trying to locate her, and today he has gone through a further 40. But as of yet, we still have no confirmation of a corpse.

"It is very difficult and distressing."

Ms Chime said of Ms Attuh: "My sister was a wonderful person, quite an exceptional person. She was a statistician - maths was the thing she loved doing and loved most."

The Foreign Office was unable to confirm whether Ms Attuh was aboard but a spokeswoman told the Independent: "It is believed that there was a dual British-Nigerian national on board the flight.

"The Foreign Office has been in contact with a member of her family and offered consular assistance."

Ms Chime has called for an investigation into the cause of the crash, saying her sister would "not have rested" until she had got to the bottom of what happened.

The plane crashed about five miles north of Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos, south-west Nigeria after travelling from the Nigerian capital, Abuja. It crashed into a printing works and residential buildings in the busy Iju-Ishaga suburb.

A number of people on the ground were also killed, although it is not yet known how many.

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