Passenger plane crashes near Nigeria airport, witnesses say

Henrie Eduozor

Bystanders at the scene of a plane crash in Lagos on Thursday.

By Carlo Dellaverson, Staff Writer, NBC News

A passenger plane crashed near an airport in Nigeria's largest city on Thursday, witnesses said.

Photos posted to Twitter also showed rescue workers surrounding the aircraft's fuselage and gray smoke rising.

Henrie Eduozor told NBC News he was on his way to the airport in Lagos when he saw smoke rising from a nearby field. People were running toward the scene screaming “There’s been a crash!” he said.

Eduozor said he saw three bodies being removed from the wreckage. The fuselage was so badly mangled that it was impossible to tell the name or logo of the airline, according to Eduozor.

The crash occurred near a domestic terminal, according to Reuters.

"There's a lot of smoke coming from the runway, but we can't get access to it," witness Rasaki Rhakod told Reuters earlier. "There are firefighters rushing to the scene."

Murtala Muhammed International Airport was the scene of a June 2012 crash that killed 163 people.

Reuters contributed to this report.

This is a breaking news story. Please check back for updates.

This story was originally published on Thu Oct 3, 2013 5:47 AM EDT