Luo Nyanza families that lost their loved ones in Sunday's Ethiopian Airline plane crash might be forced to bury logs in the instance that they cannot get the bodies.
The crash involving a Boeing 737 plane happened only minutes after the plane left the Bole International Airport in Addis Ababa, killing all the 157 people on board.
According to Luo Council of Elders Chair (Ker) Nyandiko Ong'adi, the families will have to bury something to symbolize a burial, as per the Luo traditions.
He said that the log from the 'Orindi' tree must be chopped into a piece of about 2 or 3 feet before being out in the grave to keep their memories alive.
"The grave in which the log is serves the purpose for remembrance of the person who died," Mzee Ongadi told the Standard.
The Ker added that the same is also done to avoid angering the spirit of the dead, therefore preventing them from haunting their family members.
“The deceased person may haunt the family members if they failed to bury him or her. This will culminate in bad omen,” he added.
The ceremony also includes other exercises like slaughtering animals to finalize it.
“Other cultural practices like slaughtering of animals are done when the log is being buried. The assumption is that people are burying the person who died,” added the elder.
The plane was set for Kenya before tragedy hit.