Sunday March 10 2019
The government has sent a delegation to Ethiopia after confirmation that
32 Kenyans died in the plane crash that occured at Bishoftu on Sunday,
March 10, 2019. PHOTO | TIKSA NEGERI | REUTERS
Ethiopian Airlines is currently giving more details of the
passengers who were on board ET 302 that crashed on Sunday shortly after
taking off from Bole International Airport in Addis Ababa.
The numbers we have so far are:
- 32 passengers were Kenyan
- 18 Canada
- 9 Ethiopian
- 8 Chinese
- 8 Italian
- 8 US
- 7 British
- 7 France
- 6 Egypt
- 5 Netherlands
- 4 UN passport
- 4 Indian
- 3 Russian
- 2 Moroccan
- 2 Israeli
- 1 Belgian
- 1 Ugandan
- 1 Yemeni
- 1 Sudanese
- 1 Togo
- 1 Mozambican
- 1 Norwegian
Following
confirmation of the fatalities, Kenya's Transport Cabinet Secretary
James Macharia said a team led by Principal Secretary Esther Koimett has
been sent to Ethiopia.
Some of the
nationalities of those who have died have not yet been confirmed. So
far, authorities have confirmed nationalities of 130 people.
'CAPTAIN'S FEAR'
The
CEO of Ethiopian Airlines Tewolde Gebremariam said the captain of the
crashed plane had told controllers at Bole airport that he was having
difficulty and wanted to return, and that he had been given clearance. He also said that the plane had arrived on Sunday morning from South Africa.
“[The]
plane had more than three hours of ground time after coming from South
Africa, it arrived with no remark and was dispatched with no remark.”Mr. Tewolde said smoke was still smouldering at the crash site when he visited.
INVESTIGATION
A
US-based independent agency that investigates aviation accidents, the
National Transportation Safety Board, will send a team to help
investigate the Ethiopian Airlines crash, a Reuters journalist reports.
The Boeing 737-800MAX crashed around the town of Bishoftu, 60km southeast of the capital. It was travelling to Nairobi, Kenya. The
Kenyan government has set up a support centre at the Jomo Kenyatta
International Airport. Relatives and friends of passengers in the
crashed plane are receiving information at the centres set up at
Terminal ID and Four Points By Sheraton Hotel that is within the
airport.
Earlier, some of the
relatives had broken down complaining that they had not been briefed by
the government on the fate of their kin. But
the Transport Cabinets Secretary James Macharia said they were waiting
for manifests from the Ethiopian airline. When the manifests were
revealed, Mr Macharia said the government was dispatching a delegation
to Ethiopia for coordination.
RUSSIA
Russia's embassy in Addis Ababa, has posted the names of the its crash victims on Twitter.
They are Ekaterina Polyakova, Alexander Polyakov and Sergei Vyalikov. The embassy says it is in contact with and ready to help their families.
CHINA
The Chinese embassy in Kenya said it was deeply saddened by the loss of lives, including its nationals. "At
this difficult time, China will work with Kenyan, Ethiopian and
relevant governments and people, ready to provide all necessary
assistance and support," said the embassy in a statement.
UN
The UN Secretary-General's spokesperson said he was "deeply saddened at the tragic loss of lives in the airplane crash." In
a statement to newsrooms, he said the United Nations is in contact with
Ethiopian authorities to establish details of its personnel who died in
the crash.
Following the crash, the United Nations
Environment Programme issued a short statement but did not divulge more
information. But there were fears that some of the passengers may have
been delegates heading to a UNEP conference in Nairobi. The statement
was later withdrawn.
CRASHED PLANE
Boeing, the company that built the crashed aeroplane, said in a tweet that it was "closely monitoring the situation". Its
737 Max-8 aircraft is relatively new to the skies, having been launched
in 2016. It was added to the Ethiopian Airlines fleet in July last
year.
Another plane of the same model
was involved in a crash five months ago, when a Lion Air flight crashed
into the sea near Indonesia with nearly 190 people on board.
PROBE
Ethiopian
Airlines says it has contacted families of the 157 victims of plane
crash at Bishoftu to inform them of the “tragic accident.” In
press statement on its Twitter handle, the airline said it teaming up
with Ethiopia Civil Aviation Authority and Ethiopian Transport Authority
to investigate the crash.
A team has also been formed to identify the bodies and deliver them to the kin. “Investigation
will be carried out to determine the cause of the accident, in
collaboration with all the stakeholders, including the aircraft
manufacturer Boeing and other international entities.
After the crash Boeing said it was “saddened by the deaths occasioned by the plane crash.
The
airplane manufacturer said it will dispatch a team to the crash site to
provide technical assistance under the direction of Ethiopian Accident
Investigation Bureau and the US National Transport Safety Board.
NATIONAL MOURNING
Ethiopia's
House of People's Representatives have declared Monday, March 11, a
national day of mourning for its residents as the government launches
investigation into the accident. Ethiopia's
PM Abiy Ahmed office says the country's MPs have declared Monday, March
11, 2019 a national day of mourning for the victims of the Ethiopian
Airlines plane crash in which all 157 on board died. PHOTO | COURTESY
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