Two Nigerians, 34 nationalities among 157 dead in Ethiopian airlines crash

• B737MAX acquired in November

A Nigerian, Professor Pius Adesanmi who teaches at Carlton University in Canada is among the 157 including eight crew members that lost their lives in the ill-fated Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737MAX that crashed shortly after take-off from Bole International Airport, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia Sunday morning.

Adesanmi reportedly survived a motor accident along Oyo-Ogbomoso road by the whiskers in July last year.

The second person is Ambassador Abiodun Bashua of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

He was carrying a UN passport.

The late Bashua was former UN and AU Deputy Joint Special Representative in Darfur, Sudan

The 157 passengers were of 35 different nationalities, with one person travelling on a UN passport, the airline said. The cause of the crash remained unknown on Sunday

The manifest released by the airline showed that the 157 passengers are from 36 countries around the world. The breakdown showed that the crashed ET 302 flight had three Austrians, one Belgian, 18 Canadians, eight Chinese, five passengers from Netherlands, one from Djibouti, six Egyptians, two Spaniards, nine Ethiopians, seven French, seven from the United Kingdom and one Indonesian.

Others are two Israelis, four Indians, one Irish, eight Italians, 32 Kenyans, two Morrocans, one Mozambican, one Norwegian, two Polish, three Russians, one from Rwanda, one Saudi, one Sudanese, one Somalian, one Serbian, four Slovakian, three Swedish, one Tologese, one Ugandan, eight Americans.

To complete the list are one Yemeni, one Nepalese and two unknown passengers whose nationalities were not given as at time of going to press.

Ethiopian Airlines Chief Executive, Tewolde GebreMariam, told journalists that none of the 149 passengers and eight crew members on board the Boeing 737 that crashed en route from Addis Ababa to Nairobi survived, the airline said.

Flight ET 302 crashed near the town of Bishoftu, about 50 kilometres south-east of the Ethiopian capital.

The Boeing 737 took off at 8:38 am from Bole International Airport and lost contact a few minutes later, according to the airline.

Shortly after take-off, the senior pilot, who had been working for the airline since 2010, sent a distress call and was given clearance to return, GebreMariam said.

GebreMariam disclosed that the airline had bought the new plane in November, adding that
it had flown only 1,200 hours since its purchase and was last maintained on Feb. 4.

The plane had arrived in Addis Ababa on Sunday morning from Johannesburg, South Africa, before taking off for Nairobi a few hours later, according to Ethiopian Airlines.

Boeing said it is “deeply saddened to learn of the passing of the passengers and crew on Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302, a 737 MAX 8 airplane.”

A Boeing technical team was prepared to provide technical assistance at the request and under the direction of the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board, Boeing said in a statement.
Ethiopian Airlines said it set up a committee with Boeing, the national civil aviation authority, the national transport authority and other experts to conduct forensic investigations and identify the victims.
According to information provided by Boeing and Ethiopian airlines, the Ethiopian airlines plane is the same model as a Lion Air aircraft that crashed off the coast of Indonesia in October, killing 189 people.
The Lion Air plane was also a newly purchased aircraft and had crashed 11 minutes after take-off.
The Ethiopian Airlines Group chief executive said he “deeply regrets the fatal accident,” the airline said on Twitter.
GebreMariam, who had travelled to the scene of the crash, expressed his “profound sympathy and condolences” to the families of all victims, the statement read.
“The Office of the PM, on behalf of the Government and people of Ethiopia, would like to express its deepest condolences to the families of those that have lost their loved ones on Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737.
“Airlines Boeing 737 on regular scheduled flight to Nairobi, Kenya this morning,” the office of Prime Minister, Abiy Ahmed, said on Twitter.
German President, Frank-Walter Steinmeier said he “was shocked to hear of the terrible crash.”
“The deaths of so many people on board fill me with deep sadness,” Steinmeier added.
French President, Emmanuel Macron, sent his condolences to all victims and their families. “I share their sadness,” said Macron.

Wole Shadare