A mother-of-three from London was killed in the Nigerian air disaster that left at least 153 people dead, it emerged today.
Antonia Attuh, 45, was on the Dana Air flight that crashed into a block of flats on its final approach into Lagos airport. Today the family of the former Westminster council officer told of their devastation after Sunday’s tragedy, and said they found out about her death while watching CNN.
Mrs Attuh had moved back to Nigeria with her children Chi chi, 12, Chikkie, eight and Amara, six. She was working for the Central Bank of Nigeria and was travelling to a training course. Her husband Robert, based in Radlett, Hertfordshire, is believed to be travelling in Europe at the moment.
Her father Edwin Chime, 82, who lives in Liverpool (seen in this picture) , said: “Everybody is devastated. We are confused and can’t believe what has happened. She only went to Nigeria for her children. She wanted them to learn the language and culture. We are going to fly out tomorrow to look after the children.”
Mrs Attuh, a statistician, was raised in Liverpool and studied accounting and finance at North London Polytechnic, followed by a Masters Degree at the University of East Anglia, her parents said. After university she spend 10 years working for Westminster council as a policy officer. She married Dr Robert Attuh in 1998 and had three children with him in London.
Her mother Fidilia Chime, 72, told the Liverpool Echo: “We are very proud of her. She was professional and gentle and helped everybody. She was always smiling and was a wonderful mother.”
Sister Jill told Radio 5 that family members were trying to find her body, which they believe is in a hospital mortuary: “I have my cousin who yesterday had gone through 30-odd bodies trying to locate her, and today he has gone through a further 40. But as of yet, we still have no confirmation of a corpse. It is very difficult and distressing.
“She was a wonderful person, very caring and loving. She cared deeply about her family, about education.”
Today officials say they had ended the search for bodies, after finding 153 complete corpses and body parts from other victims. Nigeria has suspended Dana Air’s licence and grounded its flights while it investigates the accident.