China Eastern Airlines flight MU5735: intense emotion as relatives finally allowed near crash site
- Tears and pleas for the missing to come home show the anguish of families as they wait for any news from the search and rescue team
- The family of a teenager on the flight tells of being blocked by local authorities, frustrated by the airline and hampered by the weather
Standing behind a makeshift wooden table where they laid white and yellow chrysanthemums and burnt candles to pay respect to the dead, some called for their relatives to come home, while the voices of others shook so much they could not be understood.
Family members of passengers carried umbrellas and donned raincoats on Wednesday as they helped each other keep their balance on the mountainous paths muddy after a night of rain. The downpours halted rescue efforts after raising fears of a landslide.
The weather was not the only obstacle for relatives wanting to travel to the site. The trip, authorised by the local government, was only possible after family members pleaded persistently to visit to pay respects to the 132 people who had been on the flight. Until Wednesday, officials had asked that they wait in the hotel rooms arranged for them by the local government.
“If they are alive, we want to see people. If they have died, we want to see the body,” said the father of Zhang Xu, an 18-year-old university student who studied esports commentary in the southern metropolis of Guangzhou, the intended destination of MU5735.
02:43
China Eastern crash investigators seek clues from flight data and video of plane’s final moments