Nigerian air crash: Relatives of victims reject mass burial

Kin of victims of the Nigerian Dana Air crash that killed at least 153 passengers and crew on board, including an Indian, have rejected mass burial of corpses.The plane plunged into two residential buildings in Lagos on June 3, also killing an unspecified number of persons on ground.

The governor of Southern state of Lagos, Babatunde Fashiola, held a meeting with the relatives and suggested the option against a more time consuming choice of conducting DNA tests to identity corpses.

Journalists were barred from the meeting but one of the participants, Johnson Akanbi, told PTI that the mass burial suggestion was rejected at the meeting as all the victims' relations demanded that the bodies be released.

"The state government actually proposes an idea of mass burial and that an inter-denominational funeral service should be organised for the victims," Akanbi said.

"All families of the victims are not willing to go with the option, especially when a suggestion that the remains of the victims can be exhumed after the DNA test result is released. But the suggestion was rejected outright," he added.

Later speaking with journalists, governor Fashola said the meeting was important to let the families of victims know the intention of the government.

Fashola said: "What we have done is to make details more available to the family so that they know what we are doing, so that they are also able to get a sense of what next."
The oil rich African country's aviation authorities said the pilot reported engine failure before the accident.