KENYA: Kenya Airways says they have no new information about survivors and casualties

A Kenya Airways plane that crashed after takeoff in Cameroon with 114 people on board is largely submerged in a swamp, bu there is no new news on survivors according to the airline. The Boeing 737-800 vanished early on Saturday shortly after leaving Douala for Nairobi in torrential rain. The aircraft was found late on Sunday not far from Douala airport after nearly two days of fruitless searches in the south of the country. "At this time we still have no confirmed information about survivors and casualties," said Kenya Airways Chief Executive Officer Titus Naikuni. A Cameroonian official told Reuters on Monday that he did not believe there was any chance of survivors. The passengers and crew hailed from 27 nations. The crash has again thrown the spotlight on air safety in Africa, the continent with the world's worst record. It has also dealt a severe blow to the image of Kenya Airways, one of the most successful and modern companies in the east African nation. "I wouldn't honestly start speculating at the moment as to what happened from the time the flight went missing until it crashed, I would like to stress the point that we don't want to speculate at these moment. Let's wait until investigations are done and the final report comes out then we will be able to answer a lot of such questions that are in our mind," Naikuni added. Rescue efforts resumed near the village at daybreak. The crash site is more than 100 km (60 miles) from where radar-equipped helicopters, ground search parties and villagers on motorbikes spent most of the weekend combing tropical forest. The six-month-old aircraft was carrying 105 passengers and nine crew, most of them African, with others from China, India, Europe and elsewhere. It had originated in Ivory Coast.

ITN Source | May 8, 2007

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