One of only three people to survive the Marsabit plane tragedy in which 14 people died told yesterday of the last moments before the aircraft slammed into a hillside shrouded in fog.
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Senior Sergeant Mureithi: Survivor
Photos/Joseph Mathenge |
“People were putting away their newspapers and preparing for the landing,” recalled Air Force flight engineer Joseph Mureithi.
And he went on: “I did not hear the pilot say anything about a problem. It was just a normal landing.”
“I just saw the hill then heard a bang. My foot was trapped between the seats. I could not pull it out. I could feel that my arm was broken.”
Mr Mureithi, an Air Force senior sergeant untied his shoe laces then slipped his trapped foot free before leaping out a broken window in the plane’s shattered fuselage.
He added: “When l was still on the ground, l could hear some bangs and then l faded out.”
Mr Mureithi, speaking from his bed in a general ward at Nairobi Hospital, said he had been seated at the rear of the plane.
“We were belted up at the rear of the plane towards the tail, and the pilot had told us that we were coming in for landing,” he recalled. He suffered a broken arm and a leg in the crash and was taken into intensive care at the hospital before his condition stabilised and he was moved to the general ward.
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UNITED IN GRIEF: From left: Former President Daniel arap Moi Speaker Francis Ole Kaparo, President Kibaki, First Lady Lucy and Vice President Moody Awori, joined by MPs at the Wilson Airport, Nairobi, yesterday pay their last respects to those who died in the Marsabit plane crash. |
All three survivors came from the back of the plane, which plunged into the hillside above Marsabit airstrip as the Y-12 aircraft made a second attempt to land after its one-hour flight from Nairobi, on Monday morning.
It broke in two on impact and burst into flames.
Mr Mureithi said next to him was an Air Force colleague, Senior Private Trevor Mwamunge while nearby was Eastern Provincial Commissioner Patrick Osare. Both suffered multiple fractures of the arms and legs but by last night had also recovered sufficiently to be moved from intensive care.
All three were expected to be questioned as investigations into the crash were stepped up.
A preliminary report has already been presented to the Transport ministry. It contained information about weather conditions at the time of the crash, the time the plane took off, the time of the crash as well as any communication between the pilot and air traffic controllers. It also contained the plane’s manifest.
The second phase of the investigations had already started as the team looked into the Chinese-made plane’s maintenance history, attempted to find the black box or flight recorder and establish whether or not the crash could have been caused by a mechanical fault.
The investigators have already taken blood samples from the remains of the two pilots for forensic tests as identification of some of the other 14 victims continued ahead of today’s planned burials in Marsabit and Isiolo.
The 14 included six MPs and a bishop who were on a mission to negotiate peace between warring clans in the area.
Thirteen people died in the plane’s wreckage while another passenger, the Moyale district commissioner, Mr Peter King’ola, died while being taken to hospital.
Those killed in the crash were assistant ministers Mirugi Kariuki and Titus Ngoyoni, Dr Bonaya Godana who was deputy Leader of the Official Opposition, MPs Guracha Galgalo and Abdi Sasura and regional Assembly member Abdullahi Adan.
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Policemen carry the body of Dr Bonaya Godana on arrival at the Wilson Airport from Marsabit yesterday. The MP was one of the 14 people who died in the plane crash on Monday. Photos/Joseph Mathenge |
Also killed were Bishop William Waqo, the Anglican assistant bishop for Kirinyaga, who is also a personal assistant to Archbishop Benjamin Nzimbi, Eastern provincial police chief Thomas Chigamba, an assistant secretary in the office of the President Mr G. M. Syanga and the deputy head of the National Security Intelligence Service for the Eastern region, Mr John Ouma.
Others killed in the crash were the plane’s captain Maj David Macharia Njoroge, his co-pilot Capt Joseph Maina Mureithi, and police constable Yusuf Guyo.
President Kibaki, who went on television to announce the names of the victims and declare three days of official mourning, was joined at Wilson airport yesterday by former President Moi to receive the bodies of those who perished.
Seven had been positively identified by government pathologist Moses Njue, who began work as soon as they were brought down from the hillside, known locally as Kofia Mbaya (Bad Hat) Hill.
It was not until 10 pm – ten hours after the tragedy took place – that the last body was found and taken to Marsabit mortuary.
In Parliament, political differences were set aside when Vice-President Moody Awori moved the suspension of business until next week to allow MPs to grieve and attend the funerals.
Outside Parliament, religious leaders and pressure groups also paid tribute to the dead and called on the warring communities to maintain peace in memory of those who had died.
MPs said they would contribute Sh70,000 each towards the burial expenses.
MPs Abdi Sasura (Saku) Guracha Galgalo (Moyale) and Abdullahi Adan (East African Legislative Assembly) were to be buried yesterday but this was postponed to allow for their remains to be identified.
Mr Kaparo, who briefed the Press on the burial arrangements, said a comprehensive funeral programme would be announced once the identifications were complete.
Funeral arrangements for Nakuru Town MP Mirugi Kariuki would be released once some of his family members returned from abroad.
Mr Kaparo said Parliament was working closely with the Office of the President to make sure the MPs who died during the plane crash were accorded a decent burial.
Parliament would also make sure that the families of the Government officials who died were taken care of.
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