Last air-crash victims identified, repatriated

PHUKET CITY: The bodies of all 89 victims of One-Two-Go flight OG269 have been identified and the last three corpses, all Iranian, being kept at Phuket International Airport (PIA) were flown out yesterday afternoon.

Phuket Vice-Governor Worapoj Ratthasima announced the news at a special meeting chaired by Phuket Governor Niran Kalayanamit at the Phuket Public Health Office yesterday afternoon.

He also reported that a series of interfaith memorial services will be held at the airport on Saturday, starting at 3 pm.

At the meeting were representatives from One-Two-Go airlines, PIA General Administration Division Director Chartchai Sungnuch and a number of clergymen including top provincial monks from Phuket and Phang Nga provinces as well as leaders of the local Muslim, Mahayana Buddhist, Sikh and Christian communities.

The services will be open to the public. All attendees are asked to wear white, Gov Niran said.

The services will start with a one-hour Theravada Buddhist ceremony by 33 monks, including Somdet Phra Phuttacharn, or “Somdet Kiaw”, the Acting Supreme Patriarch of Thai Buddhism.

This ceremony will be followed by shorter services by Muslim, Protestant, Catholic and Sikh clerics.

The series of services will conclude with a one-hour Mahayana Buddhist ceremony for the spirits of the deceased. The ceremony, to be conducted by the Kusoldharm Foundation, will start at 4 pm.

Most of the ceremonies will be held at Phuket Airport Hall, though the Kusoldharm ceremony will involve visiting the crash site.

Families of the deceased wanting to attend can contact the One-Two-Go hotline at 1126 to arrange free domestic air tickets.