Plane tragedy
Thursday, 1 July 2010
James Cassley with his wife Hong.
THIS is the Ballymena-born man who tragically died in an air crash in West Africa last week.
James Cassley, who was brought up in County Clare and was living in London, still has relatives in the town.
The 30-year-old was killed when the aircraft, chartered by an Australian-based iron company, came down in the Republic of Congo last week.
The wreckage of the plane was found last Monday (June 21) after the flight was reported missing on Saturday, June 12.
There were no survivors.
The ill-fated flight was chartered by Sundance Resources, an Australian-owned iron company, and was carrying nine passengers.
Mr Cassley, an investment banker, was married less than three years ago to his wife Hong.
His parents, Hector and Mona, who live in Quin in County Clare flew out to Africa last week. "We didn't want to believe it and we kept questioning it, but we have to accept it now," Mona told the Irish Independent last week.
“We are just in shock at the moment. We're not really processing anything. We have some family and friends here and we're just reminiscing," she added.
She said Hong, who is from China, is absolutely devastated.
“They were to celebrate their third wedding anniversary soon. We went shopping for a birthday present for him on Saturday," she said.
Mr Cassley was born in Ballymena and lived here for six years before moving to Quin and then on to London.
He was a keen traveller and "never took a beach holiday in his life", his mother said.
Amongst the victims were millionaire Australian businessman Ken Talbot and members of the board of Sundance Resources.
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