Tests begin to identify Mozambican plane crash victims

WINDHOEK - Experts carried out DNA tests on Monday (2 December) in an effort to speedily identify the 33 people who were on a Mozambique Airlines plane that crashed in Namibia killing all on board.

4 Dec 2013

The Embraer-190, similar to the one that crashed in Namibia. Image: Wiki Images

Paul Ludik, director of the Namibia's National Forensic Science Institute said that 31 bodies had been pulled from the charred wreckage of the plane in the swamps of northern Namibia's Bwabwata National Park.

"We are still busy," Ludik told AFP, adding that he couldn't say when the tests would be completed.

In addition to identifying the victims, the institute is leading the probe into the crash.

"Namibia, as the country where the accident occurred, will lead the investigation," a spokesman for the airline said in a statement. Other investigators will be drawn from Angola, Brazil Mozambique and the US National Transport Safety Board.

Worst crash in Mozambique's aviation sector

The crash was one of the worst incidents in Mozambique's civil aviation history. The passenger craft came down in torrential rains in the remote Namibian region killing its six crew and 27 passengers.

The victims' bodies were transferred by helicopter to Windhoek from the crash site about 1,000km to the northeast.

The plane, which went down en route from Mozambique to Angola, was a Brazil-manufactured Embraer 190 aircraft and the newest plane in the airline's fleet.

"The plane's black boxes have been recovered along with two voice recorders," Captain Ericksson Nengola, director of aircraft accident investigations at the Namibian transport ministry, told AFP.

Mozambique has declared a period of national mourning for the victims, who came from Mozambique, Angola, Brazil, China, France and Portugal.

"We have also begun making arrangements for a memorial service for the families, loved ones, friends and colleagues of everyone who was on board," the airline said.

Source: AFP via I-Net Bridge

Source: I-Net Bridge

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