Lebanese victims of Benin plane crash arrive home
Flag-draped coffins taken to homes across Lebanon
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BEIRUT, Lebanon (Reuters) -- Coffins carrying the remains of 79 people who died in a Christmas Day air crash in Benin arrived in Beirut on Sunday.
The 77 Lebanese and two Iranians were among 140 people killed when the Beirut-bound plane smashed into the sea moments after takeoff from the West African country's main city of Cotonou. Twenty-one people survived the crash.
The coffins arrived in Beirut on a cargo plane, accompanied by 30 family members and Lebanese divers who had helped retrieve the bodies.
Lebanese President Emile Lahoud, Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri, House Speaker Nabih Berri and Muslim clerics stood on the airport tarmac as the plane arrived.
A band played somber music as the Lebanese coffins, each wrapped in the national flag, were transferred to ambulances to take them to homes across Lebanon. The victims are expected to be buried Monday.
Lebanese television said the two Iranians would be flown home from Beirut.
The bodies were flown out of Benin after a ceremony attended by hundreds of people, including Benin's President Mathieu Kerekou, at Cotonou's airport.
Another Lebanese plane flew to Benin Sunday carrying family members to identify 14 remaining bodies.
Divers have recovered the black boxes from the plane, and an investigation has been launched into the crash.
Officials have suggested the Boeing 727 may have been overloaded.
More than 100 of the passengers were Lebanese nationals heading home for end-of-year-holidays.
The victims also included 15 Bangladeshi army officers returning from U.N. peacekeeping duties in Sierra Leone and Liberia. Others were from Conakry, Guinea, where the flight originated. They were also due to be flown home Sunday.
Lebanon's Foreign Minister, Jean Obeid, who flew to Benin after the crash and returned home on Saturday with 15 survivors, has said the plane appeared to have been overloaded.
Airport officials in Benin said the aircraft had trouble retracting its undercarriage but did not rule out that it may have been overloaded.
French aviation experts were expected in Benin on Sunday to help the investigation.
The plane was first used by the Guinean-registered company Union des Transporteurs Africains (UTA) in September.
Copyright 2003
Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
