Lungu Pays Tribute To 1993 National Team

President Edgar Lungu has paid tribute to the 1993 national football team that died in a plane crash off the coast of Gabon on its way to a World Cup qualifier against Senegal.

In a statement issued to media on the 27th anniversary of the crash, the President described the event as a tragedy for Zambia and mourned the loss of such a promising side.

“I wish you had reached Dakar, Senegal your final destination, I wish, with your collective talents you could have conquered Senegal and Morocco, we could have probably won the Africa Cup of Nations in 1994 and we could arguably qualified for the first time to the world that very fateful year,” he said. 

Mr Lungu recalled with pride the moment the same team beat Italy 4-1 at the Seoul Olympics in 1988.

“I remember how then President of Zambia Dr Chiluba delivered a Eulogy that ended with the nation weeping, I remember anger among Zambians, I remember our sadness but most of all I remember our unity”, he said. 

The president also paid tribute to the members of airforce crew aboard flight AF-391, who perished alongside the national team. 

The military-grade DHC-5 Buffalo aircraft crashed shortly after takeoff from Libreville on 27th April 1993. An official investigation concluded that the fatigued pilot shut down the wrong engine following an engine fire, while a faulty instrument also contributed to the crash. 

President Lungu concluded his tribute by reflecting that although the squad of 1993 were not able to fulfil their goal of winning the Africa Cup of Nations in 1994, they could take some solace in the fact that the Zambian national team were eventually crowned champions in 2012, after beating Ivory Coast in Gabon.