Britain Celebrates, Nigeria Weeps. The Queen's Jubilee and Nigeria's double Tragedy.

60 YEARS in charge..Queen Elizabeth.

It was the colourful Thames river pageant: More than one million rain-soaked people have watched the Queen's 1,000-boat Diamond Jubilee pageant weave its way along the Thames. The London event was the highlight of the Queen's Jubilee weekend, marking 60 years of the Queen's reign. The queen was looking elegant with her subjects cheering her on to a longer reign. While Rants of "God bless the Queen" ran high up into the air despite the drenching weather, thick black smokes were shooting up into the sky in Lagos, commercial capital of Britain's former colony Nigeria, as Dana aircraft MD83 with registration number 5NRAM, crashed in Iju-Ishaga area of the city. The plane was heading from Abuja, the capital, to Lagos when it went down about 3:30 p.m. local time (10:30 a.m. ET), authorities said. It crashed into a building and broke into two before burning up, witnesses said.

Dana Air Tragedy..Beautiful lives lost.

President Johnny who was probably supposed to be sending congratulatory letters to the Queen, was instead doling out Condolences, cancelling appointments and ordering all flags be hoisted at half-mast. Double tragedy had hit the nation. Just Hours prior to that a suicide bomber had killed himself and at least nine other people near a church in the northern Nigerian city of Bauchi. No group has claimed the bombing, but it comes amid a wave of violence by the radical Islamic sect Boko Haram. President Jonathan released a statement. The crash had "sadly plunged the nation into further sorrow on a day when Nigerians were already in grief over the loss of many other innocent lives in the church bombing in Bauchi state", the statement reportedly said.

They were just 11 nautical miles away from landing. Just 11! The Daily Times quoted a senior official of Dana Airlines, whom it didn't identify, as saying the plane had been undergoing repairs for several weeks. On 11 May a similar Dana Air plane - possibly the same one - developed a technical problem and was forced to make an emergency landing in Lagos, some reports say.
"The station manager protested its use, but the Indian management insisted it should fly," the official said, according to The Daily Times.

It is still not certain how many people lost their lives on the ground since the crash occurred in a residential area of the city but many reports do claim there are no survivors. Some of the bereaved families were seen at the Murtala Mohammed Airport Two Domestic Two(MMA2) wailing uncontrollably over their loved ones who were on board the flight. And while all this was happening, I was in Church participating in the monthly communion service via the internet, led by  Man of God, Pastor Chris. While we were sharing in the Lord's table, families were plunged into anxiety and fear. I pray God to grant the bereaved families the Fortitude to bear this irreplaceable losses.