South Sudan diplomats in Kenya visit area where Kiir survived plane crush in 1993

NAIROBI (STANDARD) – South Sudan authorities have managed to locate the site President Salva Kiir Mayardit got an accident in 1993 and recovered his passport.

The travel document along with those belonging to other passengers who were on board the plane that crashed in Torongo, Baringo County in 1993 had been safely kept by a family that also collected armlets from the scene of the accident.

For two years, they did not open the documents collected but out of curiosity, one of the family members- Ezekial Keston- decided to check, only to discover that they belonged to Sudanese citizens, and what was interesting of it all was that Kiir was part of the occupant with his passport and armlet written SPLA and SPLM.

“After two years, we discovered that Salva Kiir was among the passengers we had rescued through their passport and armlet written SPLA and SPLM,” he said.

And on Saturday, officials from the South Sudan Embassy in Nairobi visited the site of the December 1993 plane crash, a site in which President Kiir and five others survived the plane crash that happened in Kamoa, Nerkwo Lembus Ward Borders of Baringo County, and Uasin County.

One passenger was killed instantly when the plane fell from 25,000 feet above the ground.

The plane was flying from Wilson Airport in Nairobi to Kamoa, Nimule, and South Sudan.

Led by a senior Diplomat from the South Sudan Embassy Kur Garang, the officials accompanied by Eldama Ravine MP Musa Sirma, Eldama Ravine Sub County Commissioner Ali Omar, and Dr George Karithi toured the site.

They met a family that rescued President Kiir and three passengers, who managed to escape with minor injuries.

According to the villagers, they rushed the injured to Torongo Health Center for first aid before being taken to the Eldama Ravine Mission Hospital and then to a Kabarak farm in Nakuru County.

Keston who helped in rescuing the president said that they learnt two years later that they were Sudanese and diplomats.

He recalled vividly the occurrence of the day where he said that at around 11 am in December 1993, they were astonished by a strange loud bang.

On rushing to the scene, they found the plane on the ground, the sound had attracted a number of villagers who wanted to witness what was happening.

” We acted swiftly to check what was happening and found the wreckage of the plane with five passengers on board, four men and a woman, on rescuing them one person apparently died, but the rest had blood oozing on their faces,” he said.

First, he said that they washed their faces before ferrying them in a lorry, to the Eldama Ravine Hospital which is 42 kilometers away from where they were attended.

Back at the scene, they recovered their particulars, however, the police arrived at the scene five hours later and found the passenger’s language intact, as they transported the body of the deceased to the morgue, days later a team from aviation in Nairobi visited the scene.

“After three days, a team of inspection of aviation Nairobi came and assessed the wreckage. The engine from the plane was removed, we stayed for two years then we discovered that the passengers were from South Sudan through the passport left behind,” he added.

They recovered from the plane wreckage, the president’s passport, and personal documents, which they handed over to the envoy.

Kur expressed gratitude to the people of Torongo for saving his president and for their benevolent hospitality.

They thanked Mr Sirma, the local MP, who helped them in locating the crash site and assisting in getting the item from the families where the accident occurred.

“I looked for Musa Sirma to assist us in locating the scene of the plane crash that we have been tracing since 2017.”

“When I saw him being declared as the winner in Eldama Ravine constituency and being a longtime friend of mine, I knew I was going to make a breath through in my investigation,” said Kur.

The team visited Torongo Health Center, Eldama Ravine Sub County Referral Hospital, and Mercy Mission Hospital.