Dana crash: DNA test runs into hitches

A week after the ill-fated Dana air crash, only four families have so far made moves to collect bodies of their relations who died in the incident, while nine others have the authorisation to pick up the bodies of their loved ones for burial. Sunday Independent learnt that the inability of many families to retrieve the corpses of their relations is not unconnected with the protocol involved in the process of identifying the bodies, a situation that has led to Governor Babatunde Fashola slating a meeting with all affected families today (Sunday) at 2.30pm at the Lagos House, Alausa. The protocol involved in the process of identifying the bodies includes the presentation of two direct relations of each victim which could be parents or direct siblings. But our correspondent witnessed a situation where some relations claimed some of the victims had no parent and a sibling showed up for the identification process. A form which had been prepared...

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Kenyan minister George Saitoti killed in helicopter crash

Kenyan Internal Security Minister George Saitoti has been killed in a helicopter crash, officials say. They say Mr Saitoti and his deputy, Orwa Ojode, died when the aircraft went down west of Nairobi,...

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5 dead, 15 injured in small plane crash near Kiev

KIEV, Ukraine -- A small plane carrying skydivers crash-landed in stormy weather near the Ukrainian capital on Sunday, killing five people and injuring 15, including an Austrian citizen, emergency officials said. The L-410 plane belonging to a pilot school made a "hard" emergency landing during a heavy rainstorm with high winds near the Borodyanka airport some 30 kilometers (20 miles) west of Kiev, said Emergency Situations Ministry spokeswoman Yulia Yershova. No other details were immediately available. Channel 5 television reported that the pilots decided to return to the airport minutes after takeoff due to the sudden storm, but the plane came down several kilometers (miles) away in the middle of a field. Television footage showed the white aircraft with blue stripes flipped onto its side in the middle of a thick green field under sunny skies, after the rain gave way to bright sunshine. The cockpit was badly damaged and debris strewn...

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Peru rescuers to recover bodies of helicopter victims

LIMA — A police unit was climbing up a snowy peak in the Peruvian Andes on Sunday in a bid to recover the bodies of 14 people, including eight South Koreans, who died in a helicopter crash last week.  "We...

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