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| Dr Myles Munroe with wife and daughter |
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President and Founder of Bahamas Faith Ministries International (BFMI)
Dr. Myles Munroe, his wife, Ruth, and seven others, including two other
BFMI pastors, were killed in a plane crash in Freeport, Grand Bahama
yesterday evening, officials confirmed.
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Authorities said the plane took off from Lynden
Pindling International Airport (LPIA) at 4:07 p.m.
and crashed while making an approach for landing at Grand Bahama International Airport at 5:10 p.m.
BFMI’s Assistant Senior Pastor Richard Pinder was among those killed in the crash, according to BFMI officials.
The Guardian also understands that BFMI Youth Pastor Lavard Parks and wife, Radel, along with Captain Stanley Thurston died.
One of the victims was said to be a foreigner.
An eyewitness said the plane was flying low over the Grand Bahama Shipyard when it hit a crane and exploded on impact.
The eyewitness said the plane then crashed into the junkyard area.
There was widespread shock as images of the crash quickly circulated on social media sites.
Munroe, 60, was traveling to Grand Bahama where he was set to host the Global Leadership Forum.
The 2014 Global Leadership Forum was scheduled to begin today and end on November 13 at the Lucayan Resort Hotel in Freeport.
Munroe and his wife recently returned from a three-week tour of eight east African nations.
The tragic accident sent shockwaves throughout the country.
On his Facebook page last night, President of the Bahamas Christian Council Rev. Dr. Ranford Patterson urged people to “join me in prayer for BFM and the entire Bahamas as we reflect on the life of Dr. Myles Munroe his wife and team who went down in a plane crash today”.
“The Bahamas has lost a giant of a man,” Patterson said. “Please pray for us.” Prime Minister Perry Christie said he is “deeply saddened” by the accident.
“It is utterly impossible to measure the magnitude of Dr. Munroe's loss to The Bahamas and to the world,” Christie said in a statement.
“He was indisputably one of the most globally recognizable religious figures our nation has ever produced. His fame as an ambassador for the Christian ministry preceded him wherever in the world he traveled, whether in the Caribbean, North America, Asia, Europe or Africa.
“He was a towering force who earned the respect and admiration not only of Christian adherents but of secular leaders both here at home and around the world.
