Ghanaian Dignitaries Pay Homage To Survivors And Relatives Of Victims Of El Al Flight 1862 Plane Crash (4th Oct 92 Bijlmerramp)

A high profile delegation made up of the King and Queen of Ashanti people in the Netherlands, Nana Kwesi Nyanin Ayebiafo 1 and Nana Akosua Kusiwaah 1, Deputy Head of Mission of the Ghana Embassy, The Hague, Ms Doris A. D Brese, Chairman Mr Charles Vanderpuye and Vice Chairman of Representative Council of Ghanaian Organisations (RECOGIN) in the Netherlands, Oheneba Kyei Mensah and many more were in attandance to commemorate 24 years of the deadliest ever aviation incident to occur in the Netherlands, known in Dutch as the Bijlmerramp .

As part of the remenberance
On 4th October 2016 relatives of victims and survivors of the disaster gathered at "the tree that saw everything", a tree at the crash site in Bijlmer which survived the huge fire. Bijlmer which is normally a busy flight path to the airport saw no planes fly over the area. A minuite silence at exactly 18: 35 pm, the time of the disaster was held as well as moving speeches from many other dignitaries including the Chairperson of the Foundation Growing Monument Burleson-Esaias, Pieter Litjens Deputy Mayor of Amsterdam, Mrs. M. Dalgliesh, Chairperson of the Steering Committee Southeast and many more.

In a speech by Nana Kwesi Nyanin Ayebiafo, the king consoled both relatives of victims of the disaster and survivors and pledged his support and the support of the entire Ghanaian community. The Queen expressed how down-hearted She was,and prayed that such incident would never be seen or heard of in the Netherlands and also asked the Almighty to keep the souls of the departed safe in His bossom. ''damirifa-due-ne-amanehunu''

It is believed that over 240 people from Ghana and Suriname who were reported missing by the then Amsterdam Mayor, Ed Van Thijn have since been uncounted for but the Ghanaian community claimed to have lost a considerable number of undocumented fellow citizens in the disaster in addition to the 43 people who were reported to have officially died.

The 240 people mainly Ghanaians were living in the Groeneveen and Klein- Kruitberg flats in the Bijlmermeer (colloquially Bijlmer) where the El Al Flight 1862, a Booeing 747 cargo aircraft of the state owned Israeli airline El Al crashed into.

A wreath was laid on behalf of the Ghanaian Community by Ms. Doris A.D Brese and Asantefuo Hene & Hemaa Of The Netherlands, Nana Kwesi Nyanin Ayebiafo 1 and Nana Akosua Kusiwaah 1