The brother of Democratic Alliance (DA) MP Anchen Dreyer, Frans Dreyer, has been identified as one of four South African passengers who died in the Afriqiyah Airways plane crash in Tripoli, Libya on Wednesday morning.
DA leader Helen Zille, has expressed her condolences to the Dreyer family as well as the families and friends of the victims of the air disaster.
“We are deeply saddened by the news that DA MP Anchen Dreyer’s brother, Frans, lost his life in the crash”, she said in a statement.
“He leaves behind his wife, Estelle, and two daughters, Lisa and Marié”.
“Our thoughts are with Anchen and the Dreyer family at this difficult time. We pray they will find the strength to bear this loss”
The other three from South Africa were Cathy Tillett, a cabin training manager for South African company Global Aviation, as well as a former employee Norbert Tafner and his wife.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, a company official said one person was going to do some work for the charter company, and the former employee and his wife were on a private visit.
She said their families had been informed over the “very difficult morning”.
Still verifying
South African authorities were still verifying the passenger list before providing further information on how many South Africans were aboard, but agencies reported that 61 Dutch people were killed in the crash. The flight left Johannesburg at 7.30pm on Tuesday and was due to arrive in Tripoli at 4.30am on Wednesday.
Ninety-three passengers and 11 crew were on board when the plane crashed. So far only a small boy is reported to have survived the crash.
“Our ambassador in Tripoli did confirm that there were South Africans. We are trying to verify that information through the passenger list,” International Relations Department spokesperson Nomfanelo Kota said.
Members of the public were also making enquiries and once these verifications had been concluded, the department would be able to provide further information.
Emergency operations room established
The department has established an emergency operations room which, said Kota, has been busy since news of the crash broke.
The number to use is 012-351-1000 and callers must request the consular section.
South Africa’s ambassador to Libya had also set up an operations centre with other South Africa Development Community (SADC) ambassadors, to act as a reception centre for South Africans who want to travel to the North African country to identify the bodies of their loved ones.
The airline said that it would transport relatives to Tripoli without charge, where they would also be given accommodation.
Libyan immigration authorities would grant a visa on arrival, and there would be no need for translation to Arabic of their passports.
The Libyan number to call is +218-91-371-9588. The airline asked journalists not to use that number so it can stay open for relatives.
Minister sends condolences
Transport Minister Sbu Ndebele sent condolences to the families of those involved in the crash.
South Africa’s Civil Aviation Authority said their Libyan counterparts would investigate the incident because it occurred in their country.
Airbus spokesperson Linden Burns said so far they had established the plane crashed short of the runway threshold during its approach to land.
The plane was delivered from the production line in Toulouse, France, in September 2009 and was relatively new. The wide-bodied aircraft with two aisles down the main cabin, had logged about 1Â 600 flying hours from about 420 flights.
It is powered by two General Electric CF6-80E1 engines and can be used on journeys up to 13Â 400km per distance.
That particular model had been in service since 1998.
An Airbus technical team of aviation safety advisors and engineering flight specialists were on their from Toulouse to Libya on Wednesday to begin their own investigation.
Burns said television footage indicated they had recovered the flight records and retrieved the “black boxes”, but the investigators would have to decipher the information they contained.
Their investigations would include the experience of the pilots, their medical records and the training processes used and employed by the airline.
On the airline’s website, it states it prides itself on linking African countries, and working against what they claim is a monopoly imposed by international carriers over mail and air cargo operations on the continent.
It describes its planes as a “very modern all Airbus fleet”.
“Afriqiyah has played a key role in the development of Libyan and African aviation,” it states. — Sapa