Christmas joy gave way to sorrow in the tiny West African state of Benin when a Boeing 727 loaded with Lebanese families en route to Beirut crashed into the sea upon take-off.
”I got to the beach and was putting my flippers on when I heard a loud noise and saw a plane skidding into the water,” said a retired military officer, requesting anonymity.
”I dove into the water right away to help recover the bodies,” he said. ”I saw the pilot, who was ejected on to the beach. He stood up and then keeled over.”
Three massive lamps were dragged onto the Atlantic coastal beach that stretches along the runway at the airport in the Benin capital, Cotonou, for rescuers to continue late-night efforts to recover all 156 passengers and seven crew members aboard the Union Transport Africaines (UTA) flight.
Local fishermen and families enjoying the Christmas holiday were the first to leap in the water after the plane hit a building and then skidded across the runway, bumping 500m along the sand to tip nose-down into the water.
”We pulled 30 people out of the water,” one quick-thinking beachgoer said. ”Only 10 were still alive.”
”It was more important to try and hoist the plane out of the water because a lot of people were still buckled in, and it was the best way to try and get them out alive,” said another.
They were still there, early on Friday, joining firefighters in a 20-man tug of war with the airplane wreckage still stuck in the water. Still more bodies coming, now four on the shore, added to 57 in hospital and 22 injured, according to the Health Ministry’s official toll. Other government sources put the fatalities at 82.
According to the passenger manifest, most of them were Lebanese, travelling home for the holidays to see families they had left behind to build entire Lebanese communities across West Africa’s major cities, forming a backbone of their economies.
Luggage and lighter airplane debris had earlier washed up on the shore, buffeted by the current that had, by nightfall, dragged many suitcases — and many victims — below the surface.
Harab Bambo was one of the lucky ones, pulled with minor fractures from the flight and sent to hospital with his wife and two children, the youngest just three years old.
”They had just started the security demonstration when we heard a huge noise,” said the 37-year-old, his eyes continuously darting about, seeking reassurances for his family.
”And there was the plane, which hadn’t really taken off, which just nosedived.”
Down the beach from the rescuers are still more Lebanese families, among the thousands of people milling around in a state of shock after the worst airline tragedy to hit the tiny West African state.
”We have never had to live with such drama in our country,” someone murmured.
”We normally hear about this stuff on the radio. It’s so sad, especially on this holiday.” — Sapa-AFP