May Allah grant those who did not make it eternal peace
Amen
Habib
"Omar E. Njie" wrote:
> This is from the CNN Web Site [http://www.cnn.com}
>
> Omar Njie
> =============================================
>
> Kenya Airways says 10 rescued after jetliner crash
>
> A survivor is brought ashore by a rescue boat
>
> 82 bodies recovered; dozens more missing
> January 31, 2000
> Web posted at: 2:00 p.m. EST (1900 GMT)
>
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> In this story:
>
> Most on board were Nigerians
>
> Airline has good safety record
>
> RELATED STORIES, SITES
>
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast (CNN) -- Kenya Airways officials said Monday that at
> least 10 people survived the Sunday night crash of an Airbus A310 carrying
> 179 people. Rescuers have recovered 82 bodies from the crash scene in the
> waters off the Ivory Coast but the fate of the rest of those on board
> remained unknown.
>
> Kenya Airways Flight 431 plunged into the Atlantic shortly after takeoff
> from the airport in Abidjan, the Ivory Coast capital, bound for Lagos,
> Nigeria.
>
> "It broke up on impact. It broke into 100 pieces, said medical worker Alain
> Thonar.
>
> One survivor, Samuel Ogbada Adje, said the plane started having problems as
> soon as it became airborne. "It wasn't quite balanced, and the next thing we
> knew we were in the water," Adje said. He managed to swim out of the
> wreckage, but said the rescue effort had been a disaster.
>
> "If they had come sooner, a lot of us would have been saved. We waited two
> hours for people to rescue us," Adje said.
>
> Witnesses said fire could be seen in the water for about 30 minutes after
> the crash.
>
> Soldiers from the Ivory Coast were involved in the rescue effort. French
> officials said Monday one of their military helicopters and a marine
> battalion based nearby were assisting.
>
> A relative of a crew member awaits news in Nairobi, Kenya
>
> Most on board were Nigerians
>
> Kenya Airways set up two phone numbers, in Nairobi, Kenya, and in London, to
> provide information for relatives of those who were on board the plane.
>
> An emergency response team was dispatched Monday from London to assist the
> operation. But at Lagos airport, relatives of passengers complained they
> were getting no information.
>
> Airline officials said the majority of the 168 passengers and 11 crew
> members on board Flight 431 were Nigerians. Other nationalities on the plane
> included U.S., Canadian, French, Italian, Dutch, British, Japanese, Indian,
> Madagascarian, Rwandan, Senegalese, Gambian and Kenyan.
>
> "The last information we had is that we have been able to identify two
> American men by their passports which appear on the manifest," said a
> spokesman for the U.S. Embassy in Nairobi.
>
> Authorities said the survivors included four Nigerians, two Rwandans and one
> each from France, India, Madagascar and Gambia.
>
> An airport official said senior Kenya Airways officials were also on board
> the plane.
>
> The flight began in Nairobi and had been scheduled to stop in Lagos en route
> to Abidjan. But strong winds forced it to head directly for Abidjan, said
> Steve Clarke, the airline's technical director.
>
> "It was an irregular routing because of bad weather," Clarke said told a
> news conference in Nairobi. "Some people are dead because they didn't stop
> in Lagos."
>
> Airline has good safety record
> Sunday's crash was the first fatal accident for Kenya Airways, which is
> owned partly by the Kenyan government and KLM Royal Dutch Airlines. The
> airline has a good safety and maintenance record and is considered a model
> airline in Africa by industry observers, aviation journalist Nicholas
> Ionides said.
>
> Aviation experts and airline officials from Nairobi were headed for Abidjan
> on Monday to assist in the crash investigation. France has sent
> investigators, and Airbus officials will aid the crash probe as well.
>
> KLM spokesman Hugo Baas said two KLM employees may have been among the 10
> crew members on the flight. He said the local government had asked the
> military to assist in locating survivors.
>
> "It's too early to make any statements on the cause," Baas said. "The airway
> has a good name in safety standards."
>
> The plane was one of four Airbus A310s owned by the airline. Because of
> their age, they were scheduled to be replaced within two years.
>
> Kenya Airways flies from Abidjan to Lagos three times a week.
>
> Nairobi Bureau Chief Alphonso Van Marsh, The Associated Press and Reuters
> contributed to this report.
>
> ______________________________________________________
> Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L
> Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L
Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
|
