Seeking closure, families of those who perished in the Ethiopian Airlines plane crash carried charred earth from the crash site to bury as it emerged that it would take up to six months before remains of their loved ones can be identified.
Others were on their way home.
ET crash victim’s sister, Mary Yongi, says her sister texted her before she boarded the flight.
“She texted me and told me she has left Congo and that she is now in Ethiopia. On Sunday, she told me she had boarded and that we would speak when she got to Nairobi.”
Others were on their way to work.
Deputy Secretary General of the United Nations, Amina J. Mohammed, says that they have lost bright leaders.
“Our urgency and heaviness is compounded with an extreme loss of bright environment leaders; youth trailblazers who were nominated by their government to travel to Nairobi for environment, a staff member of Unep…the work that we do.”
Same ending for all; death.
Natural sound let us now observe a moment of silence, sending the world into collective mourning. One family in Kenya lost five family members across three generations. A painful silence lingered at a time when they would have been celebrating their return.
Neighbour, Waithaka Kamau says that their hearts are broken. “Our hearts are broken, because these deaths have wiped out a whole family. We are sad and devastated.”
At the scene of the accident in a farmland several kilometres from the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa, personal belongings lay scattered. The scene a clear indication that there would be no remains to carry back home to bury, some opted to carry a little soil back home; closure is all they wanted.
Officials from Ethiopian Airlines say it could take up to six months before DNA results are out.
On African Perspective Wednesday night, the team with focus on cyclone Idai and the families of those who perished on Ethiopian Airline flight ET302.
