Public memorial for Sundance victims STAFF REPORTER, The West Australian June 30, 2010, 3:13 pm
A public memorial service will be held in Perth late next week for the board members of Sundance Resources who died when their plane crashed in thick jungle in Congo.
Eleven people, including the entire Sundance Resources board, were killed when the charter plane crashed on June 19 in Congolese jungle.
The victims included Sundance chairman Geoff Wedlock, managing director Don Lewis, directors Mr Talbot, Craig Oliver and John Jones, company secretary John Carr-Gregg, Mr Talbot's French executive assistant Natasha Flason, risk management consultant Jeff Duff and London investment banker James Cassley.
The two pilots, Briton Steve Hollingworth and Frenchman Frederic Canal, also died.
The first pictures of the Sundance plane crash this week showed the twisted wreck in the thick jungle some 30km from Yangadou.
Debris of the twin turboprop plane shows the impact of the crash, the cockpit folded in half and the fuselage ripped open.
Sundance said this afternoon that the company continued to work with the Australian Federal Police, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and Congolese authorities to "ensure an appropriate and dignified process" in the repatriation of the bodies of crash victims to their homes in Australia, Britain and the US.
It is expected the bodies of the victims will be transported from Brazzaville to Paris via Air France, with the Australians to be transported home via Qantas. Sundance said it expected repatriation to take place by mid-July.
Sundance said the Republic of Congo was planning a small official condolence ceremony in Brazzaville prior to repatriation.
Sundance former chairman George Jones will travel to Brazzaville with strategic advisor Michael Blakiston to attend the condolence ceremony and escort the bodies back to Australia.
The Association of Mining and Exploration Companies and Sundance Resources will lead the organisation of a public memorial service in Perth.
Sundance said further details would be advertised separately once the date had been confirmed with the families of the men.
An investigation into the crash, including the formal identification of the bodies, is under way.
Eight Australian Federal Police representatives and six from the Foreign Affairs and Trade Department are in Brazzaville to observe the process, which will be predominantly handled by US and French authorities and the Congolese Government.
The first autopsy was completed at the weekend, the first step in the identification process.
For privacy reasons DFAT said it would not be releasing the names of those identified. The plane's voice recorder and global positioning system have been located but the cause of the crash is not expected to be known for at least a month. Follow thewest.com.au on Twitter
