15 May 2008
Nairobi — A minister's son died in Canada after a helicopter fell on him and burst into flames.
Shocked and grieving, Public Service minister Dalmas Otieno on Wednesday said that he had just spoken to his son on phone before the incident occurred.
He said that his son, Isaiah Otieno, 23, was killed as he went to the post office to send mail to his friends and family back home. He had left for Canada slightly over a year ago.
The secret of the last words, feelings or thoughts he might have put down in the letters will only be laid bare, if at all, the letters were spared the fire after the chopper exploded in flames.
"We are still shocked about the tragedy after receiving the bad news," the minister said.
"What is disheartening is that my son was not even travelling on that chopper, it simply crash-landed on him. I was told it caught fire mid-air as its pilot and other occupants were doing routine repair of electric lines," he said.
The minister said his son's e-mail is connected to the one of his brother in Kenya and when it was used by his friends in Canada, the message was also copied to his brother's mail.
Mr Otieno said he was also called by Kenya's ambassador to Canada Ms Rachel Omamo who had been informed of the accident by Canadian police.
"We got the bad news through the e-mail and our envoy in Canada," he said.
The minister said his son was studying at the West Coast of Canada, more than 400 miles from Canagry near Ottawa.
Horrified onlookers
A news agency, CanWest News Service in Cranbrook, reported horrified onlookers who watched as the helicopter appeared to struggle to remain in the air before it crashed in a ball of flames on Tuesday afternoon killing three people on board and Isaiah who was walking to the post office.
The fact that he was going to post a letter was divulged by his close friend Isaac Hockley, a freelance photographer, who was on the scene taking photos. He was shocked to find out the charred victim was Otieno, whom he described as "the most loyal kid I ever knew."
Otieno had moved to Cranbrook two years ago to take business classes at the College of the Rockies, said Hockley.
Mr Otieno recalled how he had spoken to his son at 8.47pm on Tuesday, which was about 11am in Canada.
Little did he know then that his son would be no more an hour later.
The minister said his son had just embarked on a degree course in Business after doing a bridging course for a year.
The news agency gave a graphic eye-witness account of people who saw the chopper fly low, then crash on Isaiah.
The other three victims were in the helicopter - two BC Hydro employees and the pilot.
The last time BC Hydro had a similar incident was in 1973. Investigators will be looking at a number of contributing factors to the crash, including whether the helicopter's tail rotor was working. But it is too early to confirm if this may have contributed to the crash, say authorities.
Nation reporter with Canwest News Service, Canada
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