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.
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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.
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As he desperately waited in his hotel room for any news that might trickle in, Zhang’s father took to his phone, flipping through videos, photos and messages from his son before the teen boarded the flight.
Zhang Xu grew up in Guangzhou and Yiyang, a city in the Hunan province in south China, his father said. He flew to Kunming last week to visit his girlfriend, without telling his family or his university instructors. He was supposed to arrive on MU5735 at Guangzhou on Monday but the plane never landed.
“It’s sad. I’m really sad,” his father said as tears flowed. “As his family, as a parent, you would want to go to the scene and have a look. My wife told me to bring something back to remember our son by.”
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Zhang’s relatives declined to be named in full because of the sensitivity of the disaster. Many family members of those on board MU5735 declined interview requests from media outlets not based in mainland China, saying such interviews would cause trouble to the government.
On Tuesday, Zhang’s family tried to take a taxi to the village of Lu, a few kilometres from where plane wreckage was found, but local authorities denied them entry. They shed tears at the village entrance which was guarded by firefighters, police and medical workers waiting to treat any survivors. They begged to be allowed in to burn joss paper for Zhang.
Strangers tried to help Zhang’s family by driving them to the site of the wreckage by a longer route but they were stopped outside the cordon set up by police, Zhang’s father said.
“China Eastern Airlines did not answer any of our queries or explain anything,” Zhang said outside his hotel. “It just told us one thing, to wait here.”
The local government finally allowed families near the crash site on Wednesday.
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Zhang’s father and uncles left their hotel at 9am and travelled by car for an hour to a restricted area in Teng county, but they were not let in to the crash zone. In the early afternoon, after hours of pleading with local officials to let them pay respects to their loved ones near the crash site, they were finally allowed in.
Zhang’s family and dozens of relatives were driven nearer the crash site, then walked along muddy paths to where they could watch police, firefighters and other rescuers from afar as they tried to find survivors.
Family members arrived in mud-covered boots and shoes, crying out for their loved ones, attempting to be heard beyond their surgical masks.
“Remember to come home early!” a man yelled before his words dissolved into a shaky wail.
“You need to come with uncle and return home!” Zhang’s uncle shouted towards the crash site in the middle of a mountain forest.
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Smoke seeped from the burnt joss sticks piling ash on the ground by the makeshift worship table.
Excavators continued to plough through the soil, looking for signs that any of the 123 passengers and nine crew members might still be alive.
After finally being able to visit the crash site, Zhang’s family was ready to go home and relay the scene to others in the family.
“Our request today has been met. For now I don’t have other demands. I will go back and wait for any notice from the government,” said one of Zhang’s uncles. “If there’s development on the rescue and the aftermath, the government will tell us and we will be back.”
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