Four killed as helicopter crashes in Nigerian financial hub

At least four people were killed and six wounded when a helicopter plunged into a lagoon in Nigeria’s commercial hub Lagos on Wednesday, emergency services said.

The helicopter, operated by the US-based Bristow Group, came down behind a police station in the Oworonshoki area in the city’s north, according to the National Emergency Management Agency. Two people were still missing.

“Four dead bodies (have been) recovered so far,” said NEMA spokesman Ibrahim Farinloye, adding that the wounded had been taken to two hospitals and their condition was not immediately clear.

Emergency services were scouring the lagoon for two people who remained missing, NEMA said.

A witness told Channels TV news station the helicopter made a loud noise before nose-diving into the water near the 12-kilometre (seven-mile) Third Mainland Bridge, the longest of three bridges connecting Lagos Island to the mainland.

Texas-based Bristow’s fleet of around 500 helicopters services the global energy industry and it has transportation operations in Nigeria and most other major offshore oil and gas producing regions of the world.

There have been several military helicopter accidents across Nigeria in recent years, but air crashes involving private choppers have been relatively rare.