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Cameroon mourns crash victims
18/05/2007 20:30 - (SA)
Fanny Pigeaud
Yauounde - Cameroon held a national day of mourning on Friday for the 114 victims of a Kenya Airways plane crash earlier this month, the cause of which remains unknown.
Prime Minister Ephraim Inoni attended a prayer service at Mbanga-Pongo, just south of Douala, Cameroon's economic capital, and near the mangrove swamp where the Boeing 737-800 went down on May 5 just after take-off.
Victims' family members were also present.
Cameroon authorities have taken heavy criticism for their initial response to the crash, with nearly 48 hours passing before the wreckage was located.
They have since said the emergency beacon for the plane malfunctioned, making it difficult to locate the craft.
The investigation into the crash has stalled and a commission has been set up under Cameroon's transport minister to look into potential causes.
It includes experts from Kenya and the United States, where the jet was built.
Missing black box
"The weather was bad that night, but the plane had a very effective weather radar system that shows the pilot intense storm zones," said Ignatius Sama Juma, head of Cameroon's aeronautic authority.
Searches are continuing at the accident site. One of the two black boxes - the one containing flight information - was found on May 7 and is to be analysed.
A second black box, which includes recordings of cockpit conversations, is missing.
The plane's two engines have been found but remain wedged about three to four metres deep in a crater formed by the jet when it crashed, said Juma. A contractor is working on raising them.
The plane's direction at the time of the crash also remains unclear, he said, with some believing it had turned around and was headed back to the airport.
The plane had been flying from Abidjan, Ivory Coast's main city, to the Kenyan capital Nairobi via Douala.
- AFP
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