At least 90 people have been killed in a plane crash in the West African state of Benin. The chartered Boeing 727 bound for Beirut plunged into the sea shortly after take-off from the country's main city, Cotonou, on Thursday. Benin's Health Minister Celine Segnon said 18 people survived the crash. It is not clear how many were on board. Most of the victims from the UTA Flight 141 were Lebanese nationals returning to their homeland for Christmas. There is a large Lebanese community in West Africa, where they dominate much of the commerce. The plane belonged to a charter airline called Union des Transports Africains (UTA) - it is reportedly controlled by Guinean and Lebanese owners, and is unrelated to the former French airline UTA. UTA Flight 141 originated in Conakry, the capital of Guinea, had stopped in Freetown in Sierra Leone, before landing in Cotonou. It was bound for Beirut and Dubai. An airport official quoted by the Associated Press news agency that the plane hit a building at the end of the runway as it was taking off. The plane then exploded and fell into the sea. Dozens of bodies floated among the plane's wreckage about 150 metres (yards) off a Cotonou beach. Fishermen and residents waded into the water to search for survivors and recover the dead. As the night fell, rescuers set up powerful lights on the crash site to continue their search. Minister Segnon said 22 people survived the crash but four of them later died in hospital. Lebanese Transport Minister Najib Miqati put the number of survivors at 25, and said they were all Lebanese. One of the survivors told Lebanese television that he was in the back of the plane and was able to swim to safety. "Those in the front were the most hurt," he said. "May God's mercy fall on them. It was a horrible scene."