Remembering fallen heroes
by Jay Mwamba ( a New York-based writer and author.)
He is also a former Zambia Daily Mail writer (1982-1988)
He is frequently published by the Irish Echo newspaper and the New York Daily News.
His novel “Seconds Out” is available online at www.amazon.com .
He can be reached at jaymwamba@aol.com
On the morning of April 28, 1993, the world awoke to catastrophic news.
A military plane carrying the Zambian national football team had crashed into the Atlantic Ocean shortly after take-off from the Gabonese capital, Libreville, late the previous night killing all 30 people on board.
The disaster was unprecedented in the history of sport.
Football teams and other athletes had perished in air crashes before: most infamous ly Italian champions Torino who lost 22 members in 1949, Manchester United with eight fatalities in 1958 and Peruvian club side Alizana with the loss of 18 players in December 1987.
But never before had a national squad been so decimated.
The world was stunned. Zambia was grief-stricken. I was shattered.
A week earlier, I’d spent over half an hour on the phone in New York talking to Kalusha Bwalya in Holland. Zambia was to begin the final round of qualifiers for the 1994 World Cup qualifiers with an away match in Dakar, Senegal. Morocco was the other team in the three-nation group.
Indeed the nation was trounced because it had lost assets which were unreplaceable.The lads were just unstoppable and had we not lost them, we would have been talking about how Zambia national soccer team lifted the 1994 Africa cup trophy.
“Thousands wailed while hundreds failed as the 30 bodies of the plane crash victims arrived at Lusaka International Airport from Gabon yesterday to an emotionally charged and moaning reception attended by President Fredrick Chiluba and almost the entire Cabinet including Vice President Levy Patrick Mwanawansa,” wrote the Daily Mail on May 3,1993.
President Chiluba knelt down before wailing family members of the deceased with some of them crying for his help to console them.
“Ba Chiluba mutusungeko! Ba Chiluba mutusungeko ! Uyu e wali lesa wesu,” wrote the Daily Mail again.
The tragedy marked the start to the declined standard in Zambian football. There were even calls to withdraw from the Africa and World Cup qualifiers.
But the legendary Kalusha ‘Great Kalu ‘ Bwalya was quoted by Daily Mail on May 2, 1993, “The players who were instrumental in making Zambia a formidable team are gone and we are back to square. I don’t know whether we will be able to have another team but we must not give up,” said the then PSV based
We were optimistic. Zambia, sans its primary European-based pros then, Kalusha, Johnson Bwalya and Charles Musonda, had crushed Mauritius 3-0 in an African Nations Cup qualifier the previous weekend.
Kelvin Mutale, hardly a year in the squad but already Zambia’s most prolific scoring threat had notched all three goals. Par for the course for the young sensation. In a letter to me earlier, Kalusha had described Kelvin as the best striker he’d ever played with.
Finally, Zambia had a center forward to complement its formidable defense, midfield and Kalusha’s attacking role.
The United States would host the ’94 World Cup. It seemed plain-sailing for Zambia.
Kalusha said he’d be flying from Eindhoven to Dakar the following Tuesday, April 27, to join the team ahead of the qualifier that weekend. I wished him luck and told him to pass my regards to ba Alex, Wisdom and all my other friends on the team that I’d covered and traveled with when I worked for the Zambia Daily Mail.
“Tell them I’ll see them here next year,” I said.
Six days later, the phone rings early in the morning at my apartment in Elmhurst, Queens. One of my brothers answers. He says it’s for me. It’s Kalusha. It’s 5:30 a.m.
He’s supposed to be in Senegal so I know it’s not good.
“Hello…” I say.
“Hi…,” Kalusha replies. “…I just got a call from FAZ in Zambia…The plane….”
He doesn’t have to say more. I’ve already processed the tragic news.
He’d returned home from a workout at PSV’s training facility and was packing his bags getting ready to head for the airport when FAZ called.
Kalusha is calm.
So am I. I’m a journalist and just like seven years earlier when I got a call that my mother had died in a car crash, the journalistic instincts kick in: verify the story.
There’s no Yahoo news. These are the days before the Internet. So I pull out my shortwave radio — dial permanently set to BBC. It’s soon 6 a.m. and the news comes on, as always, on the hour.
The British Broadcasting Corporation’s lead story is shocking. It confirms the horrible news….A military plane carrying the Zambia national football team has crashed into the Atlantic Ocean shortly after take-off in Libreville, Gabon. Thirty passengers on the plane are missing. A rescue operation is underway…”
Flash back: Dennis Liwewe consoling Kalusha Bwalya at Lusaka International Airport in 1993.
I call my old paper, The Zambia Daily Mail and speak to Goliath, a reporter on the sports desk. I start reciting the names so familiar to me…players I knew very well…players I’d traveled with…players I admired…seeking confirmation if they’d been on the ill-fated flight.
“…Efford…Eston…Wisdom…Derby”
Goliath assents after each name. The news is catastrophic.
Still, it doesn’t really sink in until hours later.
Tuesday, April 28, 1993 is World Cup qualifying day in Europe. The pick of the action is the Holland-England tie at Wembley.
I’d long been a Dutch fan. Since 1974, as a matter of fact, when decked out in that famous orange kit very similar to Zambia’s then, they’d come out of the blue, pretty much like Zambia had in Africa at that time, to shake up the football order at the World Cup in Germany.
The only place to catch a foothball game in New York in 1993 was on closed circuit TV at a handful of Irish or English pubs. With a heavy heart, I venture to an English establishment in lower Manhattan.
On the large screen in the packed bar the English and Dutch squads line up to observe a minute of silence for Zambia’s fallen heroes. The bar goes quiet. The sight of Frank Rijkaard, his dreadlocked head bowed in mourning, is the cue for me to let my emotions go.
The tears fall.
The nightmare is real. Zambia will not be coming to the World Cup finals.
Efford, whose advice to a superstitious goalie [“kuiposa fye”] I famously quoted in the Daily Mail, was gone.
So was Wisdom, Kalusha’s closest friend in the squad going back to October 1983 when we all traveled together to Egypt for an Olympic Games qualifier. And Derby, who could always be a found at the corner of Profund House on Cairo Road – the last place where I’d see him i n January 1991. And Eston, the last of the ill-fated team that I’d see, also in 1991.
The rest, as the old cliché goes, is history. A bitter one for that.
The generation of Efford, Eston, Wisdom and Derby would keep Zambian football going internationally until 1996. Then the wheels fall off and Zambia disappears into the wilderness.
Over the years, the real story of what happened that fateful night in Libreville on the night of April 27, 1993 remains a mystery.
I contacted the Canadian company that built the Buffalo plane carrying the team with the hope of obtaining their crash report, albeit in vain. They hadn’t conducted an investigation.
It would be years later that I’d chance a summary online from the Aviation Safety Network.
This is what it said:
“The Zambian national football team had to play a World cup qualification match against the Senegal national team. In order to transport the team and officials to Dakar, a Zambian Air Force plane was prepared. The DHC-5 Buffalo, AF-319, had not been flying from December 21, 1992 to April 21, 1993 so test flights were carried out on April 22 and April 26. On April 26 both the A and B checks were carried out revealing certain defects such as carbon particles in the engine and in speed decreaser gearbox oil filters, disconnected or unbridled cables and trace of heating. The Buffalo departed Lusaka, for Dakar with planned intermediate stops at Brazzaville, Libreville and Abidjan. After refuelling at Libreville, the aircraft took-off at 22:44 hours, one hour and 45 minutes late. Shortly afterwards the left engine failed. The plane headed out over sea and lost altitude until it struck the water 500m offshore. An investigation conducted by the Gabonese Ministry of Defence suggested that the pilot shut down the remaining right-hand engine causing the plane to lose all power. The report, released in November 2003, also said that the pilot was tired, having just flown back from Mauritius the previous day.”
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What a tragic day that was and their memories will forever be fresh in my mind, that was perhaps the greatest time i was ever so proud to be a Zambian, may the rest in eternal peace. VIVA KK 11
DURING THAT DARK DAY SEEN MY FATHER KOCKING OFF EARLY FROM WORK CYING ICOULDNT HELP MYSLF BUT TO CRY TO
Well said ba Jay Mwamba. I was in Junior secondary then but always followed the progress of our national team. It was/is indeed a great loss to Zambian Football and we are yet to see us recover from it. That crop of players was the real gem. May their souls rest in eternal peace.
Let the current HR led team dedicate the coming qualifiers to the “Fallen Heroes”.
… and where is the report? Chipungu/Govt, please issue it out. Why has it taken so long? The truth has to be known!
its true these heroes must truly be remebered!
Can we please have the report?!
We know that that plane wasn’t fit to fly, and therefore govt and ZAF are both culpable, but for closure we need to know the whole story about what happened. Who cleared the Buffalo to transport the players, despite knowing that it was not fit for purpose? Why were the team not afforded the decent transport that they deserved?
When people trivially say players should ‘die a little for mother Zambia’, we must not forget that 30 people did! May there souls rest in eternal peace.
May their souls rest in peace indeed.
Did I read:
-That plane had not been flying for two years before it was used.
-Plane had been detected with carbon particles in the Engine $ gearboxoil
-plane had Disconnected cables prior to flying.
-Plane had been detected to have traces of heating prior to flying.
- plane was planned (becouse it was not fit)for intermidiate stops in Brazaville,Libraville and Abidjan before landing in Darker!!!!
After detecting all these anomalies during testing of the plane someone had the audacity to certify the plan fit enough!!!!!!. Iam not an engineer but I feel some one needed to aswear questions why the plane was allowed to fly against all these anomalies found during not only check up A but B.
I know money was paid to the families of these fallen heros but no amount of money can buy a person’s life. Issues of fallen heros is political but I now understand why every government has refused to release the report, it is becouse some one did not do his job. They say let the sleeping dog sleep but I doubt a dog can sleep with such issues not addressed.
MTSRIP Ka Chiluba killed kk11, why everything that kk put together? We had the best team in Africa, and the best we could do was arrange a faulty plane for them? Just another case of selfish people trying to be cheap.
well written article…
Its incredible that I still shed a tear reading this, even though I was still a young boy at the time having migrated to Australia a few years earlier. Prior to 1994 I used to only be able to follow Zambia’s results in the newspaper, and that team brought me joy and consoled me as I missed home (especially 4-0 against Italy…The Italians at school had respect for our national team). To this day they remind me of what potential lies in Zambia yet remains unnoticed.
Sad Reading. Guys sad indeed.I personally knew almost 90% of these fallen Heroes-Players , on Personal terms.I recall i had sat in the late Efford Chabala’s Room with Chomba, Changwe, Waitwakeni jst before Zambia played Zimbabwe.We had a brotherly chat about soccer, we discussed the life in South Africa with Chomba, Waitwakeni and Changwe.Efford told us stories about Argetina.Alas i didnt know i was seeing the lads and chat for the last time.I had known Alex Chola,from Blackpool, Ucar Godfrey when i was a small boy at Central Sports in Mufulira training under Brian Taylor,i knew Derby Makinka, Patrick Banda,Eston Mulenga,John Soko, Winter Mumba ,Mumamba,Godgrey Kangwa,Moses Chikwalakwala from Mufulira days, Moses Masuwa,Timo Timo, i knew you guys i knew Wisdom Chansa ohoooo guys MAY UR GREAT SOULS REST IN PEACE.
am pleased that your site has taken time to remember our fallen heroes,job well done.However am very disappointed with us the people of Zambia on the aspect of us waiting for the government to support the wifes and children of the fallen heroes.I think we should learn to appreciate our sports men and of course women in Africa.
Tragically fallen, but not forgotten, They will always be loved.
Thanks Jay Mwamba, Zamfoot.
Heroes are born and these where born for mother zambia,heroes are never forgotten and these will never be forgotten.on that day i was coming from the market when surprisingly i saw almost everyone grued to the radio.i didnt know what was really happening until i saw my grand mother crying next to the radio.Their was a very busy bottle store at our premises but that day i can only remember seen two congolese drinking.Everyone was shocked and on the burial day their was weeping as all zambians were mourning the heroes.INDEED they were heroes and forever they shall be.Rest in peace Ba Zambia.
Am touched….MTSRIP….we always remember them.
The heroes will ever live with us in our memories.may there souls rest in eternal peace.
a sad day it was for the soccer world and zambia in particular.i feel as if it happened last nite becoz memories are still fresh for me.16 years down the line my only wish is for govt to give a full report to what happened and respect 28th april by attending the memorial service for the fallen heroes.
Tomorrow will be like 1993, it bring back memories from that day. I feel so sad. I watched most of these guys, even in training at Central Sports grounds in Mufulira when Zambia prepared to meet Ghana in the first leg of the qualifiers to the 1988 Olympic games. Up to now I still wish the cloack could be rewinded and make things happen in a different way
Gentlemen the report will never be released because there is not report at all. The fact is the plane was rotten, that is all. Who killed those guys? The answer is Chiluba and his Govt, akaso
Ucar and the rest I will never forget you as long as I live.
Were is the report, WHY THE SECRECY????? was it a faulty plane?? was our team shot down??? why are we being denied the truth?? What happened?? Chilubas contingent into Mwanawasas contingent into RBs contingent and still, no one is telling us what happened. why are we being denied the truth like this???
May their souls rest in eternal peace…
Faulty plane or not, why were they given a military plane as if they were heading to war? These guys were representing our country, they deserved first class seats on the best airline possible. MTSRIP, they are in a better place than those selfish snakes.
April 28 will always bring flesh memories of how we lost our legends .I was staying in the CPC houses (just behind Arthur Davies) in the same street(B road) with Robert Watiakeni and Winter Mumba.John Soko stayed in the next street when he was with Power and before Kenan Simambe left for Nkana,he was also in our neighbourhood when he was staying’pa ma pro’ (Power flats).I personaly interacted with them and at Power’s training sessions, I came to know the likes of Wisdom Chansa and other players who were coming from Ndeke.Being a son of a stonch ‘Kalampa’ fan,I also followed the likes of Eston,Numba and Kelvin.One day in April 1993 I found ‘Teacher’ Mwitwa with Makwaza & Soko at Power Social Club & little did I know that I was seeing them for the last time.The likes of Wisdom Chansa couldn’t walk freely in the streets of Kitwe without people trying to have a glimpse of the Dinamo legend.My memories are endless and I don’t know how best I can describe those Zambian football legends.MTSRIP
Why can’t we have April 28 has an official memorial day(like the way Man U remebers the victims of the Munich disaster) or even a public holiday in their honour ?.The other thing can be to introduce black arm banks for all the April matches in the ZPL & the lower divisions.FAZ should also look at the possibility of forming a heroes cup or any tounament that can be played on April 28.In short something must be done in the honour of our fallen heroes
Meant to say black arm bands
A HEROES CUP is a great idea. I also think to add more to it, it should not just end with the ‘93 “Fallen” Heroes, at that tournament, all fallen sportsmen and women including fallen sports administrators that made a difference in Zambian Sports circles should be remembered. It could be an annual tournament in honour of all fallen sports persons of mother Zambia.
Personally when i got the news that, ba zambia na ba fwa, i thought they had already played the game and lost. So i disagreed with my friend who was telling me the sad story. I told our team is playing on the weekend or so not today. So he said what he meant was they had died for real as dying. I coyuld not believe the news until i saw the 19:00hrs new. The people who read the news that day were the irregulars, i remember it was Frank Mutubila and Ben Mwila. It was sad. The other thing that really hit me is when Denis Liwewe read out the profiles of the fallen heroes in a commentery way. I remember my Da sobbing and ordered my brother to switch off the TV because he could not hold it. We all cried and am sure the whole nation cried that night.
MTSRIP
I think the new stadium in Ndola should be named April 28 Stadium.
This day was indeed the sad day for mother zambia,more especially for us who loves soccer so match.I still remember the guys and they are still in my mind untill nw.They were really a team which had full of determination.By nw we wud have gone at least to one world cup and if anything evn the africa cup was going to won by zambia.May their souls rest in eternal peace.I loved guys rest in peace
May their souls rest in peace. I have no hope that the Gabon Report will ever be released as i would have expected Levy to have done it in addition to revealing FTJ’s thefts. I think the families were compensated financially though money can’t bring back souls. I don’t know about the suggestion that government should take care of the families and to what extent. In my opinion the best the government can do is declare the day as a public holiday, all things being in order.
This will always remain fresh in our minds some of us had person relationships with these pipo it was sad indeed. But palast bazambia ni bazambia. We can still do it
EXCELLENT IDEA
@Magic is that a mouthful?
Independence or Dag Ha whatever are even more mouthful. Have you seen the names of the world cup stadiums in SA? They are even more mouthful, honestly April 28 Stadium is not mouthful, its just a date.
I AGREE
APRIL 28 1993 STADIUM
The best way to remember these fallen heroes is to appoint or add this
day as a holiday on our calender.This will help us countrywide to remember them.The state should also take good care of the fallen heroes families.
Waka the state has failed to produce the report, do u think they care about the welfare of the fallen heroes families, maybe RB can do something but the past GRZ have not give it a damn
Please forget about KK11, when this team dead, the KK11 name had changed. I believe April 28 memorial is better. Thank God we are now known as chipolopolo, which goes with the Zambian football anthem. KK was about an individual KK.
Truly a tragedy that will remain fresh through out the generations. I was only 12 years old then, but reading about it now I still feel such a great loss.
I guess releasing a report on investigations into the crash would be in order, but at the same time I believe it would cause so much emotional stress for the families of our fallen heroes.
You have said it all guys and we are even lost for words.
Here in Tanzania, Tanzania Breweries Limited (TBL) a subsidiary of SabMiller just like Zambian Breweries are will present two minibuses to Yanga and Patrick Phiri’s Simba on Friday. TBL sponsor the two most supported teams here and i just wish someone in mother land Zambia would do the same for the crumbling two most supported sides Mighty and Nkana. Ba Bernard Makufi, Ba Kalampa, Ba Alex etc. are we honestly going to sit and watch our Kalampa become a DINOSAUR. As for me no, and i am busy planning to come back home and when i do, i will die a little for mother Kalampa and Zambia Chipolopolo of course.
Naming Stadiums after significant dates in a countries history is not an uncommon practice. There are several examples of this in Africa. Our players died on national duty and it is only fitting that they are remembered forever and regularly. By naming a Stadium after them we will remember this whenever we play at the stadium. It will also keep the date fresh in our minds as some people have forgotten the date and the tragic event. We owe these martyrs a permanent place in Zambian history. These were fathers, husbands, brothers, sons and bread winners that vanished in a blink of an eye. Some left behind families that have struggled to cope without them. They deserved to be honoured. The name will also evoke fear in opponents and courage in our players as they remember what happened on that fateful day. It will spur our boys on to defend the honour of our gallant warriors. I see no logical argument against this idea. Those in the blog who have access to the corridors of power should seriously moot this idea to the decision makers. For your perusal, below is a list of some current stadiums named in a fashion similar with their corresponding capacities.
Stade 5 Juillet 1962, 84 000 seater in Algiers, Algeria
June 11 Stadium, 80 000 seater in Tripoli, Libya
Stade 7 November, 65 000 seater in Rades, Tunisia
March 28 Stadium, 40 000 seater in Benghazi, Libya
Stade 26 Mars, 50 000 seater in Bamako, Mali
Stade 19 Mai 1956, 40 000 seater in Annaba, Algeria
guys i feel so pit for that traged. i knew efford chabala from child hood and he use to play with my brother icimpombwa.afterall we were neighbours in mufulira and went to the same church with his parent.but it pained me when i head of that catastrophy.mr chitumba if you are still alive god will reward you , because efford was you bread winner but because of self individuals is normal . may there souls rest in erternal peace.
guys to be serious you know we love football in zambia and we are watching companies like zain mtn and many so called international company take all the money without even sponsor any team.hey men lets pressure the govt to continue doing something about sponsoring.mtn is sponsoring teams in south africa why here in zambia and the malonda company G4S is sponsoring sport in other country why here.take for intance in scotland they have a very nice stadium also in south africa.these guys have money for sure .its only here we underate them as malonda they have baks.MR RB go to these guys i ve mentoioned we have more sponsors.