Plane with 157 on board crashes near Addis Ababa
A Nairobi-bound Boeing 737 crashed minutes ater an early-morning takeoff from Addis Ababa on Sunday, killing all eight crew and 149 passengers on board, including tourists, business travellers, and at least one delegate to a UN meeting.
Amid a global stream of condolences, many gathered in tears at Nairobi’s Jomo Kenyata International Airport (JKIA), as the victims’ identities started to emerge.
UAE President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan has sent a cable of condolences to President Sahle Work Zewde of Ethiopia, for the victims of the Ethiopian Airlines passenger plane which crashed on Sunday.
His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai, and His Highness Sheikh Mohamed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, sent similar cables to the Ethiopian president.
African Union commission chief Moussa Faki Mahamat spoke of “uter shock and immense sadness”, while Mahboub Maalim, executive secretary of the IGAD East African bloc, said the region and the world were in mourning.
“I cannot seem to find words comforting enough to the families and friends of those who might have lost their lives in this tragedy,” Maalim said in a statement.
Sympathy messages also came from the governments of Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, Britain and Germany.
People from 35 countries and one UN passport-holder were on board flight ET 302 when it ploughed into a field 60 kilometres southeast of Addis Ababa on what the airline’s CEO Tewolde Gebremariam labelled a “very sad and tragic day.”
Ethiopian Airlines said Kenya had the largest number of casualties with 32, followed by Canada with 18, Ethiopia nine, then Italy, China, and the United States with eight each.
Britain and France each had seven people on board, Egypt six, and Germany five.
Twelve countries in Africa and 14 in Europe had citizens among the victims.
Foreign governments said tourists, business people, doctors, and a Kenyan football official were among the dead.
Also on board was at least one staff member of the UN Environment Programme meeting in Nairobi from Monday for an annual assembly of 4,700 heads of state, ministers, business leaders, senior UN officials and civil society representatives.
“As many of you have already heard, at least one of our colleagues is unaccounted for,” UNEP acting head Joyce Msuya said in a message to staff, adding more losses are feared.
Ethiopian Airlines said the plane had taken off at 8:38 am (0538 GMT) from Bole International Airport and “lost contact” six minutes later.
It came down near Tulu Fara village outside the town of Bishotu. The carrier, which changed its logo on Twiter to black and white from its trademark green, yellow, and red, said “there are no survivors.”
The Boeing 737-800MAX was brand new, delivered to state-owned Ethiopian Airways on Nov.15, said the carrier, Africa’s largest.
The plane is the same type as the Indonesian Lion Air jet that crashed last October, 13 minutes ater takeoff from Jakarta, killing all 189 people on board.
Airline’s CEO Tewolde Gebremariam said the plane had flown in from Johannesburg earlier Sunday, spent three hours in Addis and was “despatched with no remark”, meaning no problems were flagged.
Asked if the pilot had made a distress call, the CEO said “the pilot mentioned that he had difficulties and he wants to return. He was given clearance” to turn around.
The senior captain, Yared Getachew, had some 8,000 flight hours under his belt.
Ethiopian and American investigators will probe the crash, said Gebremariam.
For one family member waiting in Nairobi there was a happy ending.
Miracle: Khalid Ali Abdulrahman was waiting for his son who works in Dubai and feared the worst when a security official told him the plane had crashed.
“I was shocked, but shortly ater, my son contacted me and told me he is still in Addis and did not board that flight, he is waiting for the second one which has been delayed.”
UAE President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan has sent a cable of condolences to President Sahle Work Zewde of Ethiopia, for the victims of the Ethiopian Airlines plane which crashed.