Crash victims’ remains flown home

IT was a sad day and one of mixed emotions as relatives of the passengers killed in the Airlines PNG Dash 8 crash ga­thered at the Modilon General Hospital grounds yesterday morning to claim the remains.
The mortuary area was packed with people wearing black, with many crying as relatives loaded the remains of their loved ones onto vehicles to be transported to the airport then airlifted to their respective home provinces. 
It is understood that Airlines PNG had flown relatives and the remains of their loved ones back to their home provinces.
Most had flown in from Kimbe, Port Moresby, Mt Hagen, Lae and Chimbu to claim the remains of their lovedones.
Baili Mova, who flew to Madang from Hoskins, could not hold back tears as he was interviewed by the media yesterday.
He said the wife of a relative, the late Divu Langa, had recently given birth to their second child and insisted that his body be taken home for a proper burial.
Mova had travelled to Madang with the relatives of five wantoks to retrieve their relatives’ remains.
He said Airlines PNG staff and management had met in Kimbe with the relatives of the 14 people who died from there, promising that the expenses of the repatriation and haus krai would be met.
But Mova was upset after finding out that K450 had been deducted from the K17,857 cheque per victim given as part of the government assistance of K500,000 given by Prime Minister Peter O’Neill in October.
He said they were told that K450 would go towards buying coffins but they were given the remains of the relatives in body bags.
Instead Mova and two other groups of relatives had to place the remains of their beloved on the seats of a Divine Word University’s bus to be driven to the airport then flown to Kimbe.
There was no ambulance or hospital vehicle made available to help the relatives take the body bags to the airport.   
It is understood that three passengers, including Mova’s relative, had been confirmed to fly out of Madang to Hoskins yesterday.