Kenyan citizens in Ethiopia have held a memorial service for the families of the 157 people who perished in the 10th March Ethiopian airlines plane crash.
Kenya lost 32 people in the accident, the highest number. There were 34 other nationalities on board.
New development in the investigation of the black boxes points towards a possibility of the plane having experienced technical issues.
Some people spoke about their loved ones.
“She was someone who had dedicated her life to championing the plight of children with cancer. So I think she died for a cause, but the tribute here is because she had gone to look for ways through which children suffering from cancer in Kenya can be assisted,” said one mourner.
“I want to say I have lost a friend, this is somebody that we had things to do together, he was more of a brother to me and the most painful part of it is that Cedric died died while going to attend funeral for the mother in law,” added another mourner.
But they have no remains to take back home for burial just these stones from the crash site.
A delegation from Ethiopia led by its investigations bureau has flown the cockpit voice recorder and the flight data recorder to Paris for inspection.
Early analysis points towards a possibility of technical problems with the plane.
The Ethiopian delegation led by the Chief investigator of Accident Investigation Bureau has arrived in the French Safety Investigation (BEA) facilities and the investigation process has started in Paris.
— Ethiopian Airlines (@flyethiopian) March 15, 2019
The Ethiopian government says it is hard to determine when the final investigation will be concluded but some relatives refuse to go back home.
“According to our tradition even tissues is fine we don’t need the whole body we need some evidence , a piece of evidence a piece of blood , to find the match with the DNA with our family and this is enough for us,” says a grieving relative.
“It is a religious question for them , we hope they will find something because it is evidence to the wife,”says another mourner.
The government says DNA testing may take up to 6 months, but warns there is possibility not all the 157 people will be identified through this process.
Those who are heading back home hope they will get some evidence o f their loved ones no matter how long it will take.
