Grieving relatives and friends of the 32 Kenyans who lost their lives in the crashed Ethiopian plane ET 302 had their hopes dashed yesterday.
Most of the bodies of the 157 people including 32 Kenyans who perished in the Ethiopian plane crash will never be recovered, identified and buried.
A BBC interview the CEO of Ethiopian Airlines Tewolde Gebremariam revealed most of the bodies were reduced to ashes by the intense heat of the fire and only a few pieces have been recovered.
“By the time I reached the site on Sunday the plane was completely underground and there was no sign of it above the ground. We had to dig up the wreckage to try and find bodies.
Cedric Asiavugwa was among those who died in the crash. He was based in Washington DC and was coming home for the funeral of his mother in law.
Cedric was a student at Georgetown University studying Law and was set to graduate in two months time. His last message to his wife comforting her after losing her mother was a quote from Karl Rahner, which read:
“THE GREAT AND SAD MISTAKE OF MANY PEOPLE — AMONG THEM EVEN PIOUS PERSONS — IS TO IMAGINE THAT THOSE WHOM DEATH HAS TAKEN, LEAVE US.THEY DO NOT LEAVE US. THEY REMAIN! WHERE ARE THEY? IN DARKNESS? OH NO! IT IS WE WHO ARE IN DARKNESS.WE DO NOT SEE THEM, BUT THEY SEE US. THEIR EYES, RADIANT WITH GLORY, ARE FIXED UPON OUR EYES . . .OH, INFINITE CONSOLATION! THOUGH INVISIBLE TO US, OUR DEAD ARE NOT ABSENT. THEY ARE LIVING NEAR US, TRANSFIGURED INTO LIGHT, INTO POWER, INTO LOVE.”
