Kenya sends team to Ethiopia after 32 nationals perish in plane crash

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Kenya on Sunday said it has sent a team to Ethiopia to deal with the aftermath of an Ethiopian Airlines jet crash that killed all 157 aboard, including 32 Kenyan nationals.


“There were at least thirty-five nationalities and regrettably Kenya is the highest with 32 passengers on board,” James Macharia, Cabinet Secretary for Transport and Infrastructure, told a news conference in Nairobi.

“The government is now focusing more on the welfare of the victims’ friends and relatives, who are now within the vicinity of the airport,” he said.

Tewolde Gebremariam, CEO of Ethiopian Airlines Group, told a news conference in Addis Ababa that the victims also included 18 from Canada, nine from Ethiopia, eight each from China, Italy and the U.S.

Others are seven each from Britain and France, six from Egypt, and five from the Netherlands.

They also include four each from India and Slovakia, three each from Austria, Russia and Sweden, two each from Israel, Morocco, Poland and Spain.


Others are one each from Belgium, Djibouti, Indonesia, Ireland, Mozambique, Nepal, Nigeria, Norway, Rwanda, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, Slovenia, Somalia, Sudan, Togo, Uganda, and Yemen, Gebremariam said.

The aircraft, a Boeing 737-800 MAX, took off at 08:38 a.m. local time Sunday from Addis Ababa Bole International Airport and lost contact at 08:44 a.m., and crashed around Bishoftu town, some 45 km from the capital Addis Ababa, the airline said.

“At this stage, we cannot determine the cause of the accident,” Gebremariam said.

The aircraft, which was obtained by the Ethiopian airline in November 2018, has only been in service for four months, flying more than 1,200 hours until Sunday’s crash, according to the airline.

The flight’s captain, Yared Mulugeta, has been working with the airline since 2010, Gebremariam said.


“He is a senior pilot with more than 8,000 hours. Today is a very sad and tragic day for all of us,” Gebremariam said.

Similarly, French President, Emmanuel Macron, on Sunday said that “several French nationals” were among the 157 people killed in the crash of Ethiopian Airlines (ET) flight earlier Sunday.

“My sincere condolences to the families and friends of the Ethiopian Airlines flight’s victims, among which several French citizens,” Macron wrote on Twitter.

“We share their sorrow. France stands by the people of Ethiopia and Kenya, and expresses its full solidarity,” he tweeted.

All 149 passengers and eight crew members aboard the flight ET 302 bound for Nairobi, Kenya, were confirmed killed, according to the Ethiopian Broadcasting Corporation (EBC).


However, The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board will send four people to assist in the fatal Ethiopian Airlines crash, an NTSB spokesman said on Sunday.

The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration is also monitoring developments concerning the crash, a statement said.

“We are in contact with the State Department and plan to join the NTSB in its assistance with Ethiopian civil aviation authorities to investigate the crash,” an FAA statement said.