14 Indians killed in Kenyan air crash identified

New Delhi/Nairobi, May 6: Fourteen of the 15 Indians, who were killed in the Kenyan plane crash near Cameroon yesterday, have been identified.

Most of them had boarded the ill-fated flight KQ-507 in Douala, according to the Kenyan Airways.

A list released by the External Affairs Ministry here today identified the 14 as, Nigli Shirly, Nigili Kewin Joseph, George Joseph Kocherry, Maria Joseph, Gracey Manuel, Aman Gaur, Prakam Sundaraman, Mr Madhusudan, Mrs Bhagya Madhusudan, Ms Poojitha Madhusudan, Ms Mary Ruby, Mrs Meera Shah, Amol Chauhan and Mr Nalakath Gireesan.

Those who boarded from Douala are, Mr Madhusudan, Mrs Bhagya Madhusudan, Ms Poojitha Madhusudan, Mr Aman Gaur, Mr Nalakath Gireesan, Mr Amol Chauhan, Mrs Meera Shah, Mr Prakash Sundararaman, The Kenyan Airways identified one Mr Deep Indeer as among the dead who had reportedly boarded from Abidjan.

Meanwhile, an air and ground operation by a French Army and Cameroonian search team continued today to look for the wreckage of the Kenyan airliner which went missing shortly after take-off yesterday, The search area, 80 nautical miles south east of Douala, is about 150 ground kilometres.

Besides the 15 Indians, those who were killed in the crash included Cameroon (37), South Africa(7), Ivory Coast and Nigeria (6 each), China and Britain (5 each), Niger (3), Central African Republic, Equitorial Guinea, Democratic Republic of Congo (2 each), Mauritania, Korea, Switzerland, Mali, Sweden, Ghana, Comoros, Mauritius, Senegal, Congo, Egypt, Tanzania, US and Burkina Faso (1 each).

There were also nine Kenyans who formed the crew.

Amol Chauhan, who was one of the victims, was an ace pistol shooter and the son of Mr Sharad Chauhan, Managing Director of Parle Products. Meanwhile, reports from Nairobi said rescuers combed the forest area today for the wreckage of the Boeing 737-800 aircraft, which went missing after leaving Douala airport for Nairobi in bad weather. It went off radar immediately after takeoff.

The KQ 507 flight was reported missing after taking off from Douala. It crashed near Niete, north of the border with Equatorial Guinea, due to bad weather.

The 737-800 aircraft had left Douala at 0005 Hrs local time (0635 IST) and was expected to land in Nairobi at 0615 Hrs. (1245 IST).

The Kenya Airways has opened an international passenger information centre in South Africa. The public enquiry number is +27 11 2071100.

A local passenger information centre in Kenya has also been opened at the Intercontinental Hotel. The public enquiry numbers are +254-20-3200353, +254-20-3200354, +254-20-3274349.

UNI