At least 90 passengers were killed Thursday when a Boeing plane crashed while it was taking off from the airport in Cotonou, capital of Benin, according to the reports reaching Lomé.

The Boeing 727 was heading to Beirut while it crashed into the Atlantic Ocean after the takeoff, and it was not clear so far which airline company the plane belongs to, he added.

At least 22 people among a total of 141 passengers on board had survived the crash, according to the reports.

The aircraft, operated by Lebanese-owned Union Transport Africaines (UTA), had been delayed by several minutes from its scheduled 2:55 pm (13:55 GMT) takeoff because of technical problems, a senior aviation official said.

As it began its delayed departure, its landing gear failed to re-engage, sending the plane skidding down the beachfront runway and smashing into a building, witnesses said. It then exploded and tumbled nose down into the sea.

Beninese President Mathieu Kerekou and a number of other ministers joined Cotonou Mayor Nicephore Soglo, a former president, at the crash site, witnesses said.

As many of the passengers are Lebanese heading for holiday visits in Beirut, a flight from Beirut carrying members of the Lebanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs was to travel to Cotonou late Thursday to supervise the recovery operations and the repatriation of victims, Lebanese Information Ministry said.

(Xinhua News Agency December 26, 2003)