Praise for Irish Air India rescuers

IRISH rescue teams who helped recover the bodies of passengers aboard the Air India flight which exploded off the Irish coast in 1985 have been praised by one of the victim’s relatives.

Esther Abraham from Ontario, whose father died aboard the ill-fated flight, claimed Canada has failed to recognise the Irish emergency services who risked their own lives in the rescue operation.

Ms Abraham made her comments outside a court in Vancouver last weekend, where two Canadian Sikhs are on trial for murder over their role in planting a bomb on the flight.

She criticised the Canadian government for not having paid any tribute to the rescue crews who were first to reach the site of the crash to assist with the recovery of bodies.

Ms Abraham said she would have liked to have seen the Canadian prime minister, Jean Chretien, in court to hear of the heroism of members of the Irish Defence Forces and Valentia lifeboat as well as officers from the Royal Air Force.

All 329 people aboard the Air India flight from Montreal to London Heathrow died when the suitcase bomb exploded over the Atlantic, south-west of Ireland, on June 23, 1985.

Witnesses from Ireland and Britain have already given emotional evidence about the scene of the incident.

Ms Abraham, whose father’s body was never recovered, welcomed the opportunity to meet the rescuers at the trial to thank them for their efforts.

“They are wonderful, brave, heroic men that I would never have had a chance to meet. So there’s joy among the sorrow. It was a certain measure of restoration for me to meet those men and I will leave this place with a great deal of peace,” said Ms Abraham.

She contrasted the recognition given to New York firemen and police after the September 11 attacks on the World Trade Centre with the failure of Canada to mark the efforts of Irish rescuers.

The Canadian government has also been criticised for not commemorating the disaster with a memorial, unlike the monument erected in West Cork.