AIRLINE:
A terrible tradgedy to mark this Christmas day.
Mike Burris
Cambridge, Mass USA
Beirut-Bound Jet Crashes in Benin, 60 Die
AP
22 minutes ago
BEIRUT, Lebanon - More than 60 people, mostly
Lebanese, were killed Thursday when a passenger plane
bound for Beirut crashed into the sea shortly after
takeoff from the west African nation of Benin,
Lebanese airport officials said.
UTA Flight 141 from Cotonou, Benin's capital, was
carrying about 140 passengers, including crew members.
Television images showed pieces of the plane lying in
the surf: shorn-off landing gear, the cockpit and the
rear part of the fuselage, along with an engine.
Tangled wires and metal hung from the ripped-open
fuselage.
The airport officials said the Boeing 727 had been
chartered by two Lebanese men, and most of the
passengers were believed to be returning home for the
Christmas holiday.
Thousands of Lebanese immigrants live and work in West
African countries.
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