The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd) has disclosed the names of six employees who sadly lost their lives in a helicopter crash on Thursday.

According to the flight’s electronic manifest, the deceased NNPC staff members are: “Tamunoemi Suku, Alu Lawrence, Etim Emmanuel, Kenneth Chikwem, Frank Oriamre, and Borris Ndorbo.” 

The pilot, Captain Yakubu Dukas, was also among the victims, while one additional passenger remains yet to identified.

SaharaReporters reported on Thursday that the helicopter, operated by East Winds Aviation, was en route to the FPSO-NUIMS ANTAN facility when it crashed into the Atlantic Ocean.

Meanwhile, PUNCH reports that the Nigerian Air Management Agency (NAMA) had enlisted neighbouring countries such as Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea in the search for the missing crashed helicopter and four other passengers.

As of the time of the crash on Thursday, eight persons were onboard but three lifeless bodies were retrieved from the Atlantic Ocean where the chopper ditched. Two others were later recovered on Friday, putting the tally of recovered bodies at five.

Meanwhile, search operations have continued, but efforts to get either the aircraft or remaining victims from the ocean have not been fruitful.

The Managing Director of NAMA, Umar Farouq, has said that efforts were being made to find both the missing helicopter and passengers.

“Through concerted efforts, we are on top of the matter, with other agencies the search operation is on and Insha Allah we shall be successful,” he stated.

When asked if the agency had sought the help of neighbouring countries such as Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea, the NAMA boss responded in the affirmative, saying all the Flight Information Regions had been called upon for help.