A small plane carrying four crew and 14 senior staff of a leading Nigerian newspaper crash-landed in the bush in the northeast of the country, the paper's publisher said Wednesday.
Several of those aboard were injured, one suffering serious wounds to the head, but all survived, managing to scramble out of the aircraft when it came down Tuesday in a dust storm close to Maiduguri, Nduka Obaigbena of This Day told AFP.
The senior staff of the newspaper, which is one of the most respected in Nigeria, began a series of debates with leading public figures nationwide.
After meetings in Kaduna, Kano and Jos earlier in the week, the newspaper team was due in Maiduguri, capital of Borno State, on Thursday.
Obaigbena said the Dornier twin propeller plane was approaching to land at around 9:30 p.m. (2030 GMT) on Tuesday after a flight from the central city of Jos when it was brought down by high winds and seasonal dust storms.
Borno State is the farthest northeastern state in Nigeria and hit particularly hard at this time of year by dust storms known as the harmattan which carry sand from the encroaching Sahara Desert to the south.
The buffeting of the winds Tuesday forced the plane down in the bush at Jimtilo, about 10 kilometres (six miles) outside Maiduguri, Obaigbena said.
Those who were injured suffered their injuries in the crash-landing or their escape, he added.
The newspaper publisher said that before leaving Jos, the crew had been told by air traffic control that visibility at Maiduguri was nine kilometers (five miles).
During the flight they were informed that it had reduced to five kilometers.
When they reached Maiduguri, however, visibility was around just 150 meters (yards), he said.
Obaigbena said rescue services had arrived within 20 minutes of the crash-landing and taken the injured to hospital.
The incident highlights again the risks of flying in Nigeria.
Earlier this month, President Olusegun Obasanjo himself suffered a scare when the lights at the airport in Abuja, the capital, went out as his plane was coming in to land.
The head of the country's airports authority and other officials were since suspended.
Presidency officials said Wednesday they had sent a jet to bring the injured back to the capital for treatment -- LAGOS (AFP)
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