United Airlines plane returns to Lagos airport after distress call

A United Airlines passenger plane was forced to make an emergency landing in Nigeria's commercial capital, Lagos, on Friday after the pilot made a distress call.

The US-bound plane with 245 passengers and 11 crew members returned to the Murtala Muhammed airport about three hours after take off, Nigeria's airport authority said.

It is still unclear what prompted the pilot to make the distress call to the air control at the airport.

Four passengers and two crew members sustained serious injuries and have been hospitalised, while 27 passengers and five crew members had minor injuries and received first aid and were discharged, the authority said in a statement.

Rescue and fire fighting teams were already at the airport when the Boeing 787-800 plane landed in the early hours of on Friday.

"The aircraft itself did not sustain any damage," it added.

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