Pilot of chopper that crashed in Lake Nakuru buried
The pilot of the ill-fated helicopter that crashed into Lake Nakuru a fortnight ago was laid to rest on Saturday in Siaya county, as it emerged that some divers had withdrawn from the rescue mission.
Speaking during the burial of Captain Apollo Malowa in Lenya village in Bondo sub-county, his mother Dorothy Malowa urged Kenyans to wait for the government to complete the search for the other bodies before demanding answers.
Mrs Malowa said that it was unfair for the public to speculate on the cause of the plane crash yet the bodies of three other individuals were still missing.
“We are waiting for the government to complete the search for the remaining bodies before they start investigations into the cause of the crash,” she said.
She described her son as a hardworking, disciplined and honest young man who had a promising career and future.
SEARCH MISSION
The emotional mother recounted the last days she spent with him, before his death in Lake Nakuru while in the company of Ms Veronica Muthoni, Sammy Gitau, John Mapozi and Anthony Kipyegon, who has since been buried in Bomet County.
“I constantly prayed and this enabled the divers to pull out Apollo’s body. I believe that the remaining three families will get the bodies of their loved ones,” said Mrs Malowa.
She spoke as the rescue team involved in retrieving the three remaining bodies continued the search mission despite some of the divers pulling out.
The National Disaster Operation Centre desk officer Jonathan Kertich reported that divers involved in the recovery mission had stumbled upon clothes and documents belonging to one of the victims of the plane crash on Saturday.
The items were a jacket, a T-shirt, a vest, a pair of trousers and personal documents as well as leather shoes belonging to Mapozi, one of the five victims.
He expressed optimism that the team would accomplish the mission even after some volunteer divers from Naivasha and Bomet County pulled out of the operation.