Walking in the valley of death

By Alex Chamwanda

They went to Douala, flying at least four hours, in the same airspace that took away the life of their kin and returned without the bodies. Cyprian Kadurenge, where are you? That is the question Kadurenge brothers, Bernard and Maurice kept on asking as they spent agonising days at the Hotel Sawa.

Cyprian, 23, had worked with Kenya Airways for a year as a flight attendant and West Africa was his regular route. He had enrolled for part-time journalism class at the University of Nairobi. He leaves behind a widow and a one-year-old daughter.
When they set out for the trip to Cameroon, the Kadurenges never thought they would come back from Douala without the body of their brother.

"Life is very slow here, a day is like a month and a night is like a century. It is even more traumatising when you are alone, especially in your room. That is why we walk, eat and chat as a group of mourners who lost their loved ones here, from various nationalities," says Bernard.
The Kadurenges speak my mother tongue and we abandoned English for a while and engaged in the Maragoli dialect of the Luhya language.
I realised that made them feel at home as I continued to console them without necessarily appearing as a journalist who was only interested in filing a story.
They hail from my district, Vihiga, in Western Province. To them I was like a relative. They opened up to me and would always call me to give me updates on the progress of the identification of bodies and counselling.
"Life tastes differently, food tastes differently, the environment is different, but we pray that God gives us strength to overcome this," said Maurice, who works in Dubai.

Symbolic burial

There were 18 relatives who converged in Douala. When the wait became unbearable, emotions ran higher with the relatives demanding to visit the crash scene, just to see the valley of death that killed their loved ones.

The Kadurenge’s were among those who wanted to see the crash scene the soonest, lay wreaths and say a prayer. To some it was symbolic to reach the scene, just in case the bodies would never be found. There are those who scooped soil from the area to take it home. This was particularly common among those from West Africa.
One was overheard saying: "Now I can change the clothes I came with. In my culture we remain with our clothes until the dead is buried, but in this case we do not have the body yet. Visiting the scene is enough to allow us change clothes."
They were initially being restrained from the scene, as some doctors thought it would traumatise them more.

But according to Dr Sobbie Mulindi, a psychiatrist and expert in crisis management, taking them to the scene was unavoidable.
"When death happens suddenly it leaves so many questions unanswered and the bereaved will spend so much time asking, ‘Why? Why? Why?’" says Mulindi.
The relatives will want to find the meaning of the tragedy, why and how it just happened to them," says the psychiatrist. Adding, "It even becomes a more delicate issue when the relatives have no idea where the body of the departed is."

Nightmares

Mulindi, however, says the visit to the scene left some feeling relieved but it equally left others more traumatised.
Some relatives had nightmares after the visit and several decided to return home. This took into account the fact that DNA tests would take considerable time, probably two months before the bodies could be identified.
The Kenyan staffers who were in Douala to help with embalming and transporting the bodies have returned.
The Kadurenges say visiting the scene gave them some relief, but not for the other relatives who were waiting for the body back home. They continue to ask, "Just where is our son Cyprian?"

Apart from the trauma, the tragedy is costly to the families as the longer they wait, the more the expenses in keeping relatives and friends at home as they wait for the body. Not many can forget and go on with their life until some burial rites are performed.
"Counselling is still going on, we continue to track the families, visit them at their homes and the most important thing we tell them is to keep the mind busy so that they are distracted from the tragedy. Some have already come to terms with the death," says Mulindi.
Mulindi, who was involved in the crisis management of the Abidjan plane crash in 2000, says the Douala one has been more challenging. Forensic experts from Britain had to be called in to help.
They initially had a rough time communicating with the relatives about the delay in identification but most of the relatives have come to understand that there is nothing that can be done to make identification faster other than through DNA tests.
Maurice who works with a legal firm in Dubai says he has no option but to go back to work in Dubai next week.

"I will just be waiting for confirmation about the DNA tests while I continue to work then once confirmed, I fly back to Nairobi, and probably to Douala again if necessary. Life has to go on. We have even dispatched some relatives back to our village in Hamisi," says Maurice.
The Douala crash has been as confusing as there are speculations. Relatives, journalists, emergency service providers, doctors and even investigators have all found it a baffling and energy supping experience given the many unanswered questions.
Just reaching the crash scene in Mpanga Mpongo Forest was a nightmare, as one has to walk for about 20 minutes in soggy paths. Transport minister, Mr Chirau Ali Mwakwere underwent the same in darkness the night the wreckage was spotted.
Mwakwere shed tears at the scene in the stillness of darkness and conveyed his condolences, on behalf of President Kibaki to the next of kin.

Poor information flow

Investigators and emergency service providers from both countries have been involved in the recovery process, but not without a few hitches.
There was better co-ordination and communication in the Abidjan than in Douala.
A major problem was language barrier. Bureaucracy, lack of equipment, even water pumps, also contributed to slowing the recovery. Water pumps had to be transported from Kenya to help push out water from the crater where some the remains and plane parts are believed to be submerged.
Attendez! Attendez! became a national anthem as everywhere one went, one would be told that. Atten)dez is a French word meaning, wait. Everything there has to be approved in writing by someone even in an emergency.
A Kenyan official at the crisis management centre in Douala who sought anonymity, observed that the blame was not just on the Cameroonian side.

The Kenyan side is also to blame, especially Kenya Airways, regarding information flow. "Unlike the Abidjan experience, we have no senior KQ official here to help in quick decision making. Certain decisions have to be made in Nairobi. Everyone has been told to avoid talking to journalists, including counsellors and relatives. That gives room to speculation," he said.
The Kenyan investigation team is led by Mr Peter Wakahia, the Director of Air Accident Investigations assisted by investigators, engineers, pilots, communication and security experts from KQ. He said investigation would revolve around the man, the machine and the environment.
Theories about the cause of the crash are many but certain media reports have blamed the pilot for "ignoring warning over bad weather".
However, Mr Sama Juma, the director of Civil Aviation in Cameroon says it is unfortunate that "media are competing for unconfirmed reports and putting words in the mouths of people".
Media reports attributed to Juma said that he had confirmed that the pilot took off in stormy conditions despite warning.

Speaking to The Sunday Standard on phone Juma said: "When I was asked whether the pilot knew about the weather, all I said is that as usual a pilot is always informed of weather conditions whether it is raining or not. Similarly the pilot of the ill-fated plane was informed. Never did I say he took off defying warning. No pilot can just take off without being cleared and no one know yet whether the crash was due to bad weather.
Let’s wait for investigations."
Juma also denied that there was lack of harmony between the Kenyans and Cameroonians. He said Mwakwere worked closely with Cameroonian authorities up to the level of getting approval for the formation of a commission of inquiry whose members have yet to be named.