Calling relatives ‘home’ at China plane crash site
Dozens of ill-fated relatives on the China Eastern flight cried and called them home when they first approached the crash site in Guangxi.
Standing behind a makeshift wooden altar in mountains and forests in Teng County, Wuzhou City, southern China’s Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region on March 23, relatives of the deceased on the ill-fated flight ordered white and yellow daisies and lit candles. Some called their loved ones home, while others were so shaking that they couldn’t understand what they were saying.
They carried umbrellas and raincoats as they helped each other through the muddy mountain roads after a rainy night. Heavy rains raised fears of landslides, bringing search and rescue efforts to a halt.
Weather is not the only obstacle for loved ones who want to visit this place. The trip approved by the local government came only after family members insisted on being allowed to go to the scene. Previously, officers asked them to wait in hotel rooms arranged by the local government.
“If you are alive, we want to see people. If you are dead, we want to see corpses,” said the father of Zhang Xu, an 18-year-old student in Guangzhou, the destination of flight MU5735.
Relatives of victims gather in a village near the crash site in Wuzhou, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, on March 23. Photo: Xinhua.
Wallets and phones were strewn in the mud at the scene, but after more than a day of searching, rescuers were still unable to find their owners.
While waiting desperately in his hotel room, Zhang’s father reached for his phone, browsing through the videos, photos, and text messages his son had sent before he boarded the plane.
Zhang Xu grew up in Guangzhou and Yiyang, a city in southern China’s Hunan province. He flew to Kunming last week to visit his girlfriend without telling his family. Zhang was scheduled to return to Guangzhou on March 21, but the plane never landed.
“I’m heartbroken,” Zhang’s father cried. “As brothers, as parents, everyone would want to come to the scene. My wife told me to bring something in memory of our son.”
Zhang’s family took a taxi on March 22 to a village several kilometers away from where the plane wreckage was found, but local authorities refused to let them into the scene. They wept at the village entrance, guarded by firefighters and police. They applied for permission to enter and burned incense and ballots for Zhang, although officials have yet to officially confirm the death toll on the plane.
Foreigners tried to help Zhang’s family by driving them to the scene via a longer detour, but were stopped by police, Zhang’s father said. On March 23, local authorities finally allowed the family to approach the crash site.
Zhang’s father and uncle left the hotel at 9 am and drove for an hour to the accident site in the Teng area, but were not allowed to enter the scene. In the afternoon, after hours of pleading with local officials to let them remember their loved ones near the crash site, they were finally allowed in.
Zhang’s family and dozens of relatives of the victims were brought near the crash site, then walked along the muddy road to the location where they could watch from afar as rescuers searched for swords.
“Remember to come home early,” one man shouted, before his voice faltered, shaking with sobs.
“You must go home with me,” shouted Uncle Zhang towards the accident site in the middle of the forest.
Smoke rose from the withered incense and ashes that had accumulated on the ground, beside the makeshift altar. The excavators continued to plow, looking for signs that one of the 123 passengers and nine crew members might still be alive.
Rescue teams at the site of a plane crash in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China, on March 21. Photo: VCG.
After visiting the accident site, Zhang’s family prepared to go home so that other relatives of the victims could come to this place.
“Today we are satisfied, now I don’t expect anything more. I will go back and wait for the announcement from the authorities,” said one of Zhang’s uncles. “If there are any new findings, the authorities will let us know and we will come back.”
Chinese officials said yesterday that they had found the black box and several body parts at the scene. The Civil Aviation Administration of China said that according to a preliminary assessment, the black box they found was a cockpit voice recorder. The data storage components in the black box are relatively complete and have been sent to Beijing for analysis.
This accident had a serious impact on China’s aviation industry and ended the country’s and the world’s aviation industry’s 12-year record of safe aviation. Chinese officials could not immediately comment on the cause of the plane’s crash.
Huyen Le (Based on SCMP)
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