Rescue and evacuation operations at the scene of the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) ATR-42 aircraft crash in Igbokoda, Ilaje Local Government Area of Ondo State, may commence tonight following the arrival of two amphibious excavators.
The specialised machines arrived in the area yesterday afternoon to assist efforts to reach the aircraft, which reportedly crashed into a swamp and became submerged.
However, as of the time of filing this report, the excavators had yet to proceed to the crash site, leaving rescue operations largely at a standstill about 31 hours after the incident.
The aircraft and its occupants are believed to be trapped in the swamp, raising concerns over whether the victims could be evacuated yesterday unless the relevant agencies decided to commence a night operation.
The arrival of the amphibious excavators is expected to provide a major boost to the search and evacuation efforts, given the difficult terrain surrounding the crash site.
Meanwhile, three journalists earlier arrested by the military were later released.
The rescue and search operation also appeared to face coordination challenges, with no clearly designated official available to provide regular briefings to journalists on developments at the site.
The situation was further compounded by the reported restriction of journalists from accessing the crash scene by personnel of the Nigerian Navy Forward Operating Base in the area.
Ondo State Commissioner for Works and Infrastructure, Ayorinde Olawoye, who visited Igbokoda, described the incident as “very sad” and said the state government had deployed equipment to support the rescue effort.
Olawoye said the government had provided a swamp buggy and other equipment to assist in reaching the crash location.
“This is a very sad situation and we didn’t expect it to happen in our area. The state government has deployed all the machinery to this area, the swamp buggy and some equipment that can assist to bring out the plane,” he said.
According to him, the swamp buggy was being prepared to move across the water to the crash location, expressing optimism that significant progress could be made within hours of reaching the site.
“You can see that the swamp buggy is set to float on the water and to go to where it happened. Within five hours, reasonable thing will be done and I pray that Almighty God should pacify the family of the victims. I pray such will not happen again,” he said.
The commissioner, however, cautioned against relying on unverified information about the condition of the aircraft and those on board until the rescue team gains access to the crash site.
“Nobody can give specific information now until we get to the scene with the machines. So any information now will be on assumption,” Olawoye said.
