JOHANNESBURG (AP) — The helicopter of Nigeria’s vice president crash-landed on its side on Saturday but he and the crew were unscathed, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo and a spokesman said.
“We are safe and sound!” Osinbajo tweeted after the crash in Kabba in Kogi state, saying the crew managed the situation well. He linked to a video of himself later waving to supporters from a vehicle.
He told a crowd that “we are extremely grateful to the Lord for preserving our lives,” spokesman Laolu Akande tweeted, thanking God and the flight crew.
Local media outlet Sahara Reporters published photos of the upturned helicopter, its rotor blades smashed. Other local media published footage , shot with a mobile phone, that showed passengers carefully emerging and being helped down into a waiting crowd at the dusty scene.
The vice president is often on the road campaigning. Nigeria’s presidential election is on Feb. 16 and President Muhammadu Buhari seeks a second term at the head of Africa’s most populous country and top oil producer.
In a break from the heated campaigning, rival presidential candidate Atiku Abubakar told the vice president he was “happy to note” that everyone was safe.
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