At the scene of the crash on Monday, an eyewitness, Leme Charles, who resides near the building into which the aircraft crashed, told PUNCH Metro that he was on his balcony when he saw the plane fly in low.
Charles said he knew something was wrong as the plane started descending towards Toyin Street on Iju-Ishaga area of Lagos.
He said, "Some people were playing football on Oju-Irin field not far from our house. I intended to join them but was on our balcony when I saw the plane fly low.
"I actually thought it was going down before it got to our area because it dipped.Suddenly, it lifted up again before crashing into the building close to our house.
Charles said everybody on his street rushed to the scene but nobody knew what to do.
He said moments later, he realised that some hoodlums had started making attempts to loot at the crash site.
He said, "After some time, we saw a white man come out of the crash site. One of his legs seemed to be badly damaged as if it had been burnt.
"Immediately people saw him, they rushed at him and some were asking him questions. A big crowd had gathered at the time. Everybody was just looking at him; nobody attempted to help him.
"He fell down after that and died. I think he hit his head on a metal because blood was streaming down the side of his head."
Another youth in the area, Caleb Nwachukwu, corroborated Charles' accounts. He said the foreigner looked like a Chinese.
"I believe if he was given first-aid immediately he came out, he probably would have survived," Nwachukwu said.
A woman, Mrs. Bola Ajayi, who resides on the street next to the crash site, said she saw the plane as it dipped and crashed into Toyin Street.
She recalled seeing one of the plane's wing hit a high tension wire.
Ajayi said, "When it came towards our street, I screamed because I thought it was going to crash into our house. I was thinking of my two children in the house with me at the time.
"But it again lifted up and went down in the next street. She said she did not see the plane's tyres out as it came towards the area.
"I screamed immediately and alerted people in our area that the plane had crashed."
A 10-year-old boy also told our correspondent he saw the plane go down. The plane's wing, he said, cut a tree down and the tree fell on two cows in the area.
The boy, Aanu Fashola, said hoodlums immediately started cutting up the cows, adding that people tried to loot at the crash site.
Also, a female member of the Celestial Church of Christ adjacent to the crash site, said the church was having its children's harvest when the incident occurred.
The woman, who identified herself simply as Bisi, said there was confusion when they heard a big bang near the church.
She said, "We were having our children's harvest on Sunday. If not for the harvest, we would have finished the service. The congregation was in a happy mood when we suddenly heard the big bang and people started running helter-skelter.
"Yet, nobody knew what was happening until some people started running towards the site that a plane had crashed on a residential building.
"People who saw the plane go down said it first hit a mango tree adjacent the building and one of its wing broke and the plane now nosedived into the house."
Meanwhile, one of the soldiers that cordoned off the crash site went berserk and attacked the crowd that had gathered at the entrance of the street.
The soldier, who carried a big stick, injured some people. A man was seen with blood oozing out of his leg after the soldier had hit him with the stick.
When our correspondents visited the crash site on Monday, a combined team of policemen and soldiers had cordoned off the crash site and allowed only a few people to visit the scene.
It was learnt that many people residing on the street had deserted the area after the crash. A few of them, who returned on Monday, had a hectic time convincing the security operatives to allow them to enter their houses.
-punch
I tot he survived o! :(. We'll get past this.
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