Families of victims of Kenya Airways crash seek independent probe

ABIDJAN, Ivory Coast (Reuters) -- Families of victims of a Kenya Airways Airbus crash off Ivory Coast in January are pressing for an independent inquiry, saying that investigations to date have shed no light on how or why their loved ones died.

Gerard Bonneau of France, chairman of an association set up by some of the families to find out the truth, told Reuters late on Friday that efforts to organize an independent inquiry depended on Ivory Coast agreeing to the move.

"Six months have gone by and we still have nothing," Bonneau said, adding that the investigation into the July 25 Air France Concorde crash was already giving results.

"It's very important to know why the crash happened because I want to know why I have lost my wife and to know who is responsible," he said, adding that lessons also were to be drawn for safety of future flights.

Bonneau's Chadian-born wife of 16 years, Kaltouma Kemadingar, was among 169 people killed when flight KQ431 crashed into the sea on January 30 after taking off from Ivory Coast's main airport in the commercial capital Abidjan.

Ten people on the Lagos-bound flight survived the crash.

Bonneau said questions persisted over whether pilot error or technical problems caused the crash and over serious delays in rescue services reaching the scene.

He said Ivory Coast's transport minister had promised to inject new life into an Ivorian investigation, but expressed fears of a conflict of interest with those responsible for Abidjan airport security conducting the probe.

"There have been past accidents in Ivory Coast but no conclusions on the reasons. We don't want that to be the case for the Airbus," he said, adding that the association would formally request an international probe if no progress was made.

Bonneau said the cockpit voice recorder had given some details of the final minutes of the flight but that he had been told the flight data recorder was blank.

He said the association had been set up in May by a handful of families, but added that with 28 nationalities on board the plane they were keen to contact other families.

Bonneau, a bank manager in Lagos, has taken a sabbatical to find out the truth.

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