DATE=05/05/02

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

NUMBER=2-289439

TITLE=NIGERIA-CRASH (S)

BYLINE=LUIS RAMIREZ

DATELINE=ABIDJAN

CONTENT=

VOICED AT:

INTRO: Rescue workers in the northern Nigerian city of Kano say they have recovered 82 bodies and expect the death toll to keep rising in the crash of a passenger jet. The E-A-S Airlines twin-engine jet crashed into a crowded neighborhood shortly after taking off Saturday from Kano airport. V-O-A's Luis Ramirez reports from our West Africa bureau in Abidjan.

TEXT: Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo cut short a visit to several southern African nations after getting news of the disaster.

Mr. Obasanjo declared a two-day mourning period for the victims. He said a full inquiry would be conducted to determine the cause of the crash.

The Nigerian leader put the number of dead at 106, but reports from the scene said the death toll was much higher.

Officials with the Kano State Ministry of Health resumed the search for bodies at daybreak. The remains are those of both passengers and crew on the plane and people on the ground.

Rescue efforts continue as workers try to find more bodies they believe are trapped under the wreckage. Efforts were interrupted at nightfall Saturday due to a general power outage. Much of Kano has been without electricity for two-days for reasons not related to the crash.

The Kano state government plans to carry out a mass burial. (SIGNED)

NEB/LR/DW/RAE