Mamadou Zoungrana was eagerly awaiting the day he would be reunited with his family in Canada.
The Gatineau, Que., resident had moved from Burkina Faso two years ago in search of a better life. His wife and children had recently finalized their paperwork and were about to join him.
“I was planning this for a long time, I was so happy,” Zoungrana said.
This week, his hopes for the future were destroyed. An Air Algerie jetliner crashed in northern Mali, killing all 118 aboard. Zoungrana’s wife and his two children, ages 6 and 13, were among the dead.
Now, Zoungrana is overcome with grief.
“I am totally lost. I don’t know what will become of me tomorrow,” Zoungrana said as friends tried to comfort him Friday. “My children are gone with their mother.”
Zoungrana’s family were three of a dozen people aboard Flight 5017 with connections to Canada.
Five Canadian citizens and six residents, all from Quebec, lost their lives on Thursday, when Flight 5017 vanished off the radar over northern Mali while a heavy storm pounded the area. The flight took off from Ougadougou, the capital of Burkina Faso, late Wednesday night and disappeared from the radar nearly an hour later, according to the official Algerian news agency APS.
The plane’s wreckage was later discovered in a remote region of Mali, which borders with Burkina Faso in western Africa.
Zoungrana said he can’t help but think of his family’s final moments.
“For sure, the children were screaming, ‘daddy, daddy,’” Zoungrana said, his voice breaking with emotion.
Zoungrana isn’t the only Quebecer facing enormous loss following the plane crash.
Among the victims is one entire family, all of whom were Canadian citizens hailing from the Montreal region. Winmalo Somda, Angelique Nantouowor Kpada and their children, six-year-old Nathanael and three-year-old Arielle had been travelling in Africa to attend the 50th wedding anniversary of Winmalo’s parents.
With them was Winmalo’s brother Wilfred, who was not a Canadian citizen, but had been living in Quebec at the time of his death.
Wilfred’s wife, Rita Somda, was supposed to join her family for the celebration, but due to give birth any day, she was unable to fly. Also travelling with Somda’s family was Isabelle Prevost, a family friend from Sherbrooke, Que. She leaves behind her partner and their three young children, who are ages 5, 7 and 9.
Speaking with CTV Montreal on Friday, Rita Somda said she’s is trying to be strong for her three-year-old daughter, and the baby she is scheduled to deliver next week.
“If I try to understand it, I will go crazy,” Somda said. “I am trying to accept it and be strong for my child and the one that I am soon expecting.”
Rita said she’s not sure if her daughter understands yet that her father is not coming home.
“I’ve told her but does she really understand what happened? She knows her dad is in heaven now, but I don’t think she really knows what it means.”
Rita Somda said once she gives birth, she’ll travel to Burkina Faso to mourn with relatives there.
Meanwhile, Zoungrana was en route Friday night to Burkina Faso, where he must now plan a funeral for his family.
The Quebec hospital where Zoungrana works as a medical technologist said they are supporting him, and will hold his job until Zoungrana is ready to return to work.
On Friday, French troops were guarding the wreckage site for investigators as aviation experts, soldiers and criminal investigators converged in the region.
With files from CTV Montreal’s Denise Roberts and CTV Ottawa’s Natalie Pierosara
