South Africa sends pathologists to Cameroon following Kenya Airline crash

Douala - The team of pathologists, led by South African Police Services Expert Inspector Leone Ras, left Oliver Tambo International Airport on Saturday 12 May and was expected to begin its work yesterday, Sunday 13 May 2007. The South African team is expected to assist the Cameroonian and Kenyan authorities with victim verification as part of efforts to help families of the victims identify their loved ones and to find closure.

The process, initiated by South Africa's ambassador to Cameroon Dr SS Ripinga in consultation with the Cameroonian authorities, is a step in the process of repatriating the mortal remains of all victims, including South Africans who were on board, back to their home countries to be laid to rest.

Slow progress angers victims' families

The SA government has reiterated President Thabo Mbeki's message of condolences to all families who lost their loved ones in this tragic incident.

Officials said the victims of the crash were from 27 countries and this latest move by the South African authorities is believed by some media to have been prompted by the anger and frustration on the part of the victims’ families, who believe progress has been very slow since the May 5 crash.

The victims also included Anthony Mitchell, the Associated Press correspondent based in East Africa, who covered the national elections in Ethiopia and won the respect of many citizens of the Horn of Africa nation, with his no-holds-barred reporting of events in that country.