As proceedings were adjourned at the opening of a trial in Banjul, Gambia, over the deaths last year of small children who took a cough syrup made by the India-based Maiden Pharmaceuticals, parents whose children died tell AFP they are disappointed in the absence of the defendants. "I am not happy because those people we are expecting for them to witness in this case, they are not with us," says Alusine Bangara, who lost a child. Some 70 children aged 5 and under died in 2022 after taking the over-the-counter medicines, leading to a national outcry in the West African nation of about 2.5 million people. SOUNDBITES