BRAZIL: Relatives of plane crash victims hold memorial service at accident site

Friends and family of the victims of Brazil's worst air disaster gathered on Friday (July 20) in front of the crash site to hold a memorial service in honour of those who perished earlier in the week. A bishop from Sao Paulo's Archdiocese, Don Pedro Luiz Stringhini, led the mass where the victims' relatives and religious leaders demanded answers from authorities. The Airbus A320 was carrying 186 passengers and crew when it slid off a short, rain-soaked runway at Sao Paulo's Congonhas airport, hurdling a busy road before slamming into a gas station and cargo terminal. Sao Paulo's Archbishop Don Odilo Scherer, who also participated in the service, said it is not enough to understand what caused the crash, it is necessary to make changes to avoid future accidents like this one. Scherer attempted to comfort the victims' relatives. "Our lives do not belong to us. We are in this world only for a moment, but from one moment to the next we may not be here any more," he said during his sermon. The ceremony lasted some thirty minutes with prayers and sermons from representatives of different religions like Hinduism, Judaism, Buddhism and from the Catholic and Presbyterian Churches. Even leaders of the indigenous xama religion played drums in honor of the victims. Devastated, relatives cried and prayed as they placed flowers on the ground for their loved ones. Meanwhile, local TV on Thursday (July 19) filmed a close advisor to President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva apparently reacting to reports suggesting the accident was caused by a mechanical error and not government negligence. Lula's administration has come under scathing criticism regarding the air crash. Marco Aurelio Garcia, a foreign policy advisor to the president, was shown on national television on Thursday (July 19) making what some construed as "celebratory" gestures after news that pointed to problems with the braking system of the doomed A320, rather than government negligence. The incident capped a flurry of criticism that Lula has been absent during the crisis so as not to jeopardize his lofty approval ratings. Garcia later said it was a private expression of indignation in response to attempts to blame the government for the accident. "(This gesture) reflects entirely my indignation before a version which they [the media] attempted to pass onto the public, that tried to blame the government for this dramatic incident and I say this for a very simple reason, they cannot put this responsibility on the government's back. This is a tragedy which killed at least two hundred Brazilians," he said. Following the crash on Tuesday (July 17) of an Airbus A320 that killed some 200 people at Sao Paulo's Congonhas airport, Brazilians have been clamouring for explanations and someone to take responsibility for the country's second major aviation accident in 10 months. TAM announced late on Thursday that the aircraft had been flying without one of its thrust reversers, which help slow the plane at landing. But TAM's technical director Ruy Amparo said the device was not essential to safe landing, according to an Airbus manual. "On Friday we had a report which indicated the malfunction of one of the reversers. In this case the manual says you must mechanically inhibit this function, but that the airplane can still fly for ten days under any weather conditions," he said. The opposition Brazilian Social Democracy Party said Garcia's gesture was "an offense to the Brazilian people" and demanded an apology from Lula. Lula is schedule to address the nation regarding the air disaster on Friday evening.

ITN Source | July 21, 2007

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