Geoffrey Muigai, son of Isaiah Muigai Waweru Kabaka who died in the FlySax plane crash on June 5. Relatives of the plane crash victims say they went through perhaps the most harrowing three-day experience of their lives. PHOTO | JEFF ANGOTE | NATION MEDIA GROUP 
From delayed communication from the government to spending two sleepless nights and dealing with a barrage of tormenting information from social media, the relatives of the FlySax plane crash victims say they went through perhaps the most harrowing three-day experience of their lives.
The relatives and friends of some of those who perished in the Aberdare Forest plane crash on June 5 said that coordination of the rescue mission was riddled with blunders.
First, the multi-agency rescue team led by the National Disaster Management Unit (NDMU) at the command post in Njabini in Nyandarua County kept reassuring them that they would find their loved ones alive, more than 40 hours after the plane was reported missing, even as friends kept sending them condolence messages.
SOCIAL MEDIA
And ruthless social media users did not spare them, posting unverified information and speculating on the accident.
In an exclusive interview with the Nation at their home in Dagoretti, the family of Dr Isaiah Muigai Waweru Kabaka narrated how they agonised over a mix-up of names in the media reports.
“Some reports indicated that a 'Mr Karaba Sailah Waweru Muiga’ had perished in the accident. Others identified him as ‘Kabara Waweru,’” Ann Kabaka, Dr Muigai’s widow said.
“Some stations reported that no one had survived the crash, yet the government spokesperson at the hotel kept telling us to wait for details on of the correct position,” Ms Kabaka said, adding that even FlySax was slow in its updates.
The family also narrated how neighbours broke the devastating news to Dr Muigai's 95-year-old father.
CRUSHING NEWS
“We had wanted to to prepare him for any bad news that might come. The manner in which the news was delivered crushed him,” Mr George Muigai, Dr Muigai’s brother said.
And the family of businessman Ali Abdi Ahmed clashed with government officials at the Lee Funeral Home when they refused to release the body. They had to wait for three days, contrary to Islamic practice.
"We felt that they were withholding the body for too long through procedures,” Mr Abdikadir Noor told the Nation.
After learning about the crash, Mr Leakey Kiragu, the twin brother of George Kin-yua Ngugi, travelled from West Pokot County where he works. But his attempt to join the rescue mission was unsuccessful.
“We were barred from going up the mountain and had to stay in a tent all night as Red Cross officers counselled us. We spent two days at the command post with-out knowing what was really happening,” Mr Ngugi said.
HOPE KILLED
As they braved the chilly nights on the fringes of the mountain, disturbing messages from people online killed whatever little hope they harboured of finding their loved ones alive.
Meanwhile, Disaster management officials asked them to stop speculating and wait for official communication from the government.
“But every time they gave us an update, it was information that had already been shared by friends following the events through the media,” Mr Ngugi added.
The families that camped at the Weston Hotel for two days said the hours of waiting for the discovery of the crash location, coupled with piecemeal information, was upsetting.
LEFT CONFUSED
The Nation has learnt that the relatives were left confused when, without any definitive information, the camp was abruptly closed on Thursday evening and they were asked to assemble at the Lee Funeral Home the following morning.
For Magdalene Wanjiru, Mr George Kinyua’s wife, messages from his phone kept her hopes alive.
“I started calling him when he did not call me after the one hour the flight from Kitale to Nairobi was supposed to take. I assumed that he was in a low-network location and that he was still alive,” Wanjiru said.
The families had been worried before the flight and had even asked their kin to delay their trip due to the bad weather in Kitale that day. But their worst fears were confirmed when they learnt about the missing aircraft.
“The airline only confirmed that one of its aircraft had gone missing in the Aberdares without giving any details,” Ms Wanjiru revealed. They spent the night hoping for good news but only got nerve-racking messages on social media.
FRIGHTFUL NIGHT
Wanjiru’s family sat through the frightful night hoping for a shred of good news, but instead got bombarded with nerve-racking messages from social media as Kenyans kept speculating about the fate of the aircraft.
“For the two days, I kept reassuring my children that their father would return home safe. But all the while news reports told a different story. I could see my daughter was unconvinced by my assurances. It was so hard for us,” Ms Wanjiru said.
She finally broke the sad news to her two children on Saturday.
“My son loved his father very much. He hasn’t stopped enquiring about his whereabouts since last week,” Wanjiru said.
MUTILATED
Even after waiting for two days in the woods in Aberdare, Kiragu could not bear seeing his brother’s mutilated body when the relatives of the crash victims were asked to identify bodies of their loved ones at Lee Funeral Home on Friday.
“My spirit had already been crushed. From the way the crash scene was being de-scribed, I had a feeling that it was a traumatising spectacle,” Kiragu recalled.
The Nation has also established that even after the bodies were recovered from the wilderness, government officials clashed over whether to preserve them in Naivasha or to fly them to Nairobi.
Those who preferred Nairobi could also not agree on whether to take them to Chiromo Mortuary or to Lee Funeral Home, an impasse that caused further agony to the families.
By noon on Thursday, the agencies according to Kiragu assured the families that there might still be survivors in the wreckage seeing as the aircraft had not exploded.
George Kinyua will be buried today at the family’s farm in Bagaria in Njoro, Nakuru County.
The couple had three children aged nine, four and nine months.
The couple had three children aged nine, four and nine months.
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