A burial service was held in the Kenyan town of Nakuru on Friday for a family that lost five of its members in the recent Ethiopian airlines plane crash.
John Karanja lost his wife, daughter and three grandchildren in the accident. Distraught and sobbing relatives and friends poured into Karanja’s ancestral home in Kwa Amos Village in Nakuru.
They were attending the service to witness the final send-off of the five family members whose lives were tragically cut short by the plane crash.
The gathering at St. Michael’s church had a powerful message, to unite as a community in mourning the dead and forever remember their good deeds while on earth.
Words alone cannot describe the grief and pain John Karanja has to live with.
“What God did was the rightful thing because his will should be done on earth as it is in heaven,” said Karanja.
A burial with no coffins and no bodies to bury. Hundreds of mourners poured in to place flowers on their tombstones.
“As the government of Kenya through the ministry of foreign affairs we are going to work with the families until we put this matter to rest,” said Deputy President William Ruto at the service.
Karanja’s sudden loss came as his wife was returning from Canada where she had gone to help her daughter Caroline Karanja, who had just given birth.
Ethiopian Airlines flight 302 crashed minutes after take-off, killing all 157 people on board.
March 10 will forever be remembered as a dark day that took the life of Ms. Karanja, their daughter Caroline and her children Ryan Njoroge, Kelly Paul and Ruby Paul, the little baby boy who was just nine months old.
