Almost four years ago, I was writing for the first time about the tragedy that took place nearby Baloteşti, on the morning of March 31, 1995, with emotion inspired by the magnitude of the disaster and empathizing with those who disappeared and with the families who lost at that time dear souls.
Here we are now, at the commemoration of 30 years since the terrible accident that took the lives of 60 innocent people, an accident explained in great detail, along with many other aspects, by the author Patrick Huber in his recent book, “TAROM Flight 371 – Romania’s worst air disaster” (available in German and English). This event finds us filled with the same emotion and, also, proud of keeping alive and dignified the memory of those lost, by caring for the Memorial of the Victims of Baloteşti, a monument built in their memory and maintained through volunteerism and with the support of the Iubim Aviaţia Association.
Our association paid tribute today to the memory of the victims of flight ROT371, joining the Ambassador of the Kingdom of Belgium to Romania, His Excellency Jean Cornet d’Elzius, in the commemoration organized at the Memorial, an event during which all those people on board the fateful flight ROT371 were evoked, people who were primarily friends, colleagues, spouses, children, grandchildren, parents or grandparents and who, through their existence, left their mark on the lives of dozens, perhaps hundreds of people, thereby leaving a better world behind them.
The Iubim Aviaţia Association honors the memory of the victims from Baloteşti and dedicates a few moments of remembrance to those who were:
Marc De Baere
Victoria Bălănescu
Ilie Bătănoiu
Doina Blaj Borde
Daria Michaela Bucur
Constantin Buză
Karel De Cauwer
Terri C. Chung
Adriana Comeagă
Stefan De Joncker
Regis Dieu
Serge De Dree
Marie Jose Deherde
Michel Duffaut
Dumitra Dumitrescu
Sacha Fouarge
Chantal Geets
Dumitru Georgescu
Dan Andre Giurgiu
Jaques Gotlib
Benny Govaert
Emilio Alberto Hap Dubois
Maria Laura Hap Ţurcanu
Maricica Hap Ţurcanu
Frank Heyse
Kathleen Hochart
Norman A. Hoyt
Virginia J. Hoyt
Simona Carmen Istodor
Jimmy Jacobs
Doina Jurcovan
Georges Kerkhof
Barend L.M.A. Kerstens
Didier Louche
Camelia Cristina Mihăilescu
Henri Minkowski
Sally Minkowski
Livia Carmen Munteanu
Sorin Vasile Mustăţea
Inge Nackaerts
Gustave Nottebaert
Lucreţia Pop
Florentina Mihaela Popescu
Georges Rousseaux
Thida Rousseaux
Naree Rousseaux Krajaisanjorn
Ionut Staicu
Mark Anthony Stephenson
Jean-Francois De Stepkowski
George Stîngă
Ionel Stoi
Joelle Thiran
Michelle Vanden Ameele
Ray G. Vanheusden
Albert van Ham
Eric van Looy
Dimitri Verdood
Francine Vergult
Jean van Hoop
Johnny Werbrouck
Text & Photos: Calin Pirlog