My First Dead Body

I saw my first dead body last week. He was a victim of a plane crash in the eastern Congolese town of Goma. I don't know if he was on the plane or in the busy market it crashed into. I don't know his name or how old he was. The hospital worker unzipped the body bag and I just started taking pictures. It wasn't until he had unzipped a few more bags that the smell hit me and I realized what I was shooting. I stopped for a few seconds to process everything and then kept shooting.

Later I was at an internet cafe sending my photos to the Associated Press and to the European Pressphoto Agency. A woman stood out in the in the middle of the road, hands raised to the rain, wailing at the heavens. I felt mildly nauseous as I sent my photos.



Grief outside the morgue at Heal Africa Hospital in Goma.

Tears for the victims.

There are four hospitals in Goma, all over-crowded due to the armed conflict in eastern Congo. Hospitals keep tight security to avoid being swamped by patients.