Pope laments 'great loss of life' after Nigerian airliner crash

Published: 2005-12-12

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Pope Benedict XVI lamented "the great loss of life" after a Nigerian airliner crashed, killing almost all passengers on board, many of them schoolchildren heading home for the Christmas holidays. In a telegram, the pope expressed his "heartfelt condolences to the families of the victims" and wished "strength and peace upon all those who mourn and upon all engaged" in rescue and relief operations. The Vatican released a copy of the telegram Dec. 12. At least 107 of the 110 passengers and crew members died after a passenger jet crashed and burst into flames Dec. 10 as it was trying to land at the southern oil town of Port Harcourt during an electrical storm. Seventy-one of the 110 people on board were students at Loyola Jesuit College boarding school near the Nigerian capital of Abuja; the students were between ages of 11 and 18.

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