CAMEROON: Chinese assist with access to Kenya Airways crash site; questions over crash remain

Record ID: 452970

  • Title: CAMEROON: Chinese assist with access to Kenya Airways crash site; questions over crash remain
  • Date: 18th May 2007
  • Summary: (SOUNDBITE)(French) NICOLAS LEE, CRBC CHIEF ADMINISTRATOR SAYING: ''Now the caterpillar is clearing the way to get access to the truck that will extract the wreckage of the plane and maybe a few bodies'' CATERPILLAR BULLDOZER MOVING MUD (SOUNDBITE)(French) NICOLAS LEE SAYING: ''I think ten to fifteen days because of the swamp that will give us technical problems because with the swamp there is a lot of water, you cannot go with the machine, it is difficult.'' CRBC WORKERS WATCHING CATERPILLAR BULLDOZER CLEARING PATH IN JUNGLE
  • Embargoed: 2nd June 2007 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Cameroon
  • Country: Cameroon
  • Topics: Disasters / Accidents / Natural catastrophes
  • Reuters ID: LVA593FBPED0HUANR7O4LZVV24NM
  • Story Text: A state-owned Chinese company operating in Cameroon this week provided earth moving equipment as part of an effort to recover the Kenya Airways plane the crashed in a swamp near Doula.
    State-owned China Road and Bridge Corporation brought a bulldozer into the area to clear a path to the plane. A road will be built through thick mangrove swamp and forest and provide access for workers clearing the site, aviation officials and relatives of those on board.
    An official from the company said it would take almost two weeks to clear a road that would provide easy access to the site, currently only accessible along a difficult footpath.
    ''Now the caterpillar is clearing the way to get access to the truck that will extract the wreckage of the plane and maybe a few bodies," said Nicolas Lee, CRBC's Chief administrator.
    ''I think ten to fifteen days because of the swamp that will give us technical problems because with the swamp there is a lot of water, you cannot go with the machine, it is difficult,'' he added.
    Cameroon's civil aviation chief said on Tuesday (May 15) that the plane's pilot decided to take off in stormy weather while other flights waited for conditions to improve.
    Cameroon has launched an investigation into the crash of the six-month-old Boeing 737-800, which plunged into swampy jungle not far from Douala airport shortly after taking off around midnight on May 4-5. All 114 people on board were killed.
    Relatives of crash victims have been allowed access to the site this week after angry scenes on Monday (May 14) when Cameroonian soldiers prevented a group of relatives of crash victims from visiting the location because they said the accident site required further work.
    The dead passengers came from 27 nations, mostly African, but with others from China, India and Europe.
    Relatives of the victims have criticised Cameroonian authorities over their handling of the accident. Search parties took nearly two days to locate the plane wreckage, which was found less than 6 km (4 miles) from the end of the runway.
    But the chief of operations for the African Civil Aviation Authority praise local relief efforts.
    ''I think the newspaper and tv enterprises must really thank you, the people from Cameroon, the Red Cross, military, fire brigades, police out there when leading this channel. Its a channel to try to get out some survivors. Sorry that they are no survivors but they are starting now to recover bodies,'' said Captain H. Eggerschiler.
    The head of Cameroon's Civil Aviation Authority, Ignatius Sama Juma, said the Douala control tower had advised the captain of Kenya Airways Flight 507 of the stormy weather conditions.
    He said the captains of two other planes also due to leave Douala the same night both decided to wait for weather conditions to improve. They left safely.
    Only one "black box", the flight data recorder, has been recovered. Rescuers were looking for the cockpit voice recorder.
    Responding to criticism that Cameroonian authorities wasted nearly two days searching for the plane 150 km (94 miles) from the crash site, Sama Juma said the automatic distress beacon on board had stopped transmitting soon after take-off.
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