5, October 2026
Nigeria: Tinubu confirms 32 dead after military plane crash 0
It is one the worst air disasters in recent years in Africa’s most populous country.
The passenger aircraft was on a “routine mission” from Benin City in southern Nigeria to the economic hub of Lagos when it went down at Igbokoda in Ondo state shortly after 9:00am (0800 GMT), the president and the airforce said.
“The president extends his deepest condolences to the family of the 25 passengers and seven crew members involved,” Tinubu’s office said in a statement.
“This is a painful moment for our armed forces and for the entire nation,” he said. He did not give the identities of the victims;
Aviation Minister Festus Keyamo said earlier on X that the plane had crashed near a naval base.
Keyamo and Tinubu described it as an ATR-42 — a twin-engine turboprop that the manufacturers say can carry between 30 and 50 passengers
A video circulating on social media showed a small crowd gathered near a river while rescuers searched the area by boat.
The president said he had “directed the Nigerian Air Force to immediately commence a thorough investigation into the cause of the crash to prevent future occurrences”.
Noise like thunder
Dayo Akinte, 39, a firewood hawker who lives about a kilometre (mile) from where the accident occurred, described to AFP hearing a sound she thought was “thunder” at the time she believed the plane went down.
Since the crash, “three aircraft have also been flying over the scene”, she said by phone.
She said someone who went fishing in the swamp alerted the nearby naval base and people in the town about the crash.
Airforce spokesman Ehimen Ejodame earlier said “search and rescue operations” were ongoing “in coordination with relevant authorities and emergency response agencies”.
Police also confirmed the accident but provided no details.
Igbokoda is located in Ilaje, an oil-producing region in southern Nigeria.
In May 2021, Nigeria’s top-ranking army commander, Lieutenant General Ibrahim Attahiru, and 10 other officers were killed when their plane crashed in bad weather while trying to land at northern Kaduna state airport.
Seven people died when a military plane crashed into a house in northern Nigeria killing everyone on board in August 2015.
Earlier that same month, a helicopter crashed into a lagoon in Lagos, killing six, including the American pilot.
Source: AFP
11, October 2026
139 migrants dead, more than 84 missing after boat capsizes off Djibouti 0
At least 139 migrants were killed after a boat sank off the shores of Djibouti overnight on October 8-9, a UN agency said Sunday.
An earlier statement indicated an initial toll of 109 dead including 15 children, with some 116 missing. The updated figure accounts for the discovery of a further 30 bodies, with a total of 84 individuals remaining unspoken for.
Survivors said the vessel – which was carrying 350 people from Djibouti to Yemen – capsized north of the Djibouti town of Obock, according to a statement from the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), whose teams are on the ground alongside local authorities to provide emergency aid.
“This is a devastating loss of life. Our thoughts are with the survivors and the families who have lost loved ones or remain without news of their relatives,” said Alexandre Coissac, IOM chief of mission in Djibouti, in the statement.
He said IOM teams were on the ground alongside Djiboutian authorities to provide emergency aid.
“This tragedy is a stark reminder of the dangers faced by migrants along this migration corridor as they seek economic opportunities” by trying to cross the Bab el-Mandeb Strait to Yemen and then to reach Gulf countries.
Among the bodies recovered were at least 52 men, 42 women and 15 children – nine girls and six boys – the statement said.
More than 80 people survived the shipwreck, all Ethiopian nationals.
“Poverty, insecurity and the growing impacts of climate change drive many to undertake this journey, despite mounting instability across the Middle East,” the IOM said.
Source: AFP