Families of Ethiopian air disaster given sacks of soil from crash site to bury

Family members of the 157 victims of the Ethiopian air disaster are being given sacks of earth to bury in place of the remains of their loved ones by the officials of the Airline because the identification process is going to take such a long time.

Families are being given a 1kg sack of scorched earth taken from the crash sites, members of two different families told The Associated Press.

They spoke on condition of anonymity to avoid any possible government reprisal. An Ethiopian government official who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to reporters also confirmed the deliveries of soil.

"The soil came as it became impossible to identify bodies and hand over remains to family members," one family member said. "We will not rest until we are given the real body or body parts of our loved ones."

Forensic DNA work has begun on identifying the remains but it may take six months to identify the victims, because the body parts are in small pieces.

However, authorities say they will issue death certificates within two weeks. The victims of the crash came from 35 countries.

Source: AP