Authorities of the Nigerian Air Force on Friday confirmed that a rocket which fell from a helicopter on patrol destroyed a building and a car in Woji area of Port Harcourt, capital of Nigeria's oil-rich state Rivers.

Commander of the Nigerian Air Force Base in Port Harcourt, Air Vice-Marshall Abba Zannah disclosed the news to reporters, saying the helicopter was on routine patrol of the Niger-Delta creeks but did not disclose if it had completed its mission or not when the rocket fell off.

"The incident occurred at about 6:30 a.m. local time and no life was lost," he said.

According to him, the damaged building was yet to be occupied and a Toyota Camry parked near it was also badly damaged.

Zannah said it was an unusual technical error in the system.

"It is not a normal thing in the Air Force system and the outcome of the investigation will allow us take certain measures, '' he added.

Noting that the sound of the exploding rocket caused great panic as people thought it was a bomb explosion, he said security personnels have cordoned off the area to search for unexploded shrapnel in the damaged building.