An aircraft hangar in the Ethiopian capital was filled with the white roses as aviation staff gathered yesterday to remember the two pilots and six crew members, who perished along with 149 passengers in the Ethiopia Airlines crash a week ago.
Weeping women held slender single stems in their shaking hands and banks of the flowers, traditionally used to mark the passing of lives, were placed in front of a row of empty coffins at the ceremony.
A band — some of the musicians in tears — played traditional Amharic music.
Photo: AFP
The music stopped temporarily as band members ran to comfort bereaved relatives who lunged forward, wailing to grieve over the coffins.
“Our deep sorrow cannot bring them back,” an Orthodox priest in a traditional black turban and black robes told the crowd.
“This is the grief of the world,” he said, as Ethiopian Airlines staff sobbed in each other’s arms.
At least the crash had taken place in Ethiopia — the holy land — he said, prompting “amens” from the crowd.
A flight attendant spoke warmly of the captain, Yared Getachew.
“He was a really nice person, a good person, all the words you can find to talk about a good person apply. He was a very kind human being,” she said, before dissolving in tears.
A service for the families of passengers was scheduled for later yesterday in Addis Ababa’s Holy Trinity Cathedral.
The families have been given 1kg bags of charred earth from the crash site to bury, because most of the bodies were destroyed by the impact and fire.
Identifying the small remains that have been collected might take up to six months.
Interpol and Blake Emergency Services, hired by Ethiopian Airlines, will work with Ethiopian police and health officials to identify the bodies, Ethiopian Minister of Transport Dagmawit Moges said on Saturday.
“Preparation for the identification process has already started and we will make sure that the post mortem investigation will start as soon as possible,” she said.
Additional reporting by AP
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