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World mourns victims of tragic Ethiopian jet crash

ADDIS ABABA – Ethiopians and the diplomatic community are mourning the deaths of 157 people aboard the Ethiopian Airlines flight that crashed minutes after take-off on Sunday.

The Ethiopian house of people’s representatives (HoPR), the Ethiopian parliament’s lower house, had declared a day of national mourning on Monday.

All Ethiopian government branches and diplomatic missions across the East African country, including the African Union (AU) and the UN Economic Commission for Africa (ECA), are also mourning the victims, with flags at half-mast.

Ethiopian prime minister Abiy Ahmed, expressing his condolences to the families of passengers and crew members who were on board the ET 302 flight, assured them of investigations into the cause of the accident by technical experts.

Ahmed also stressed that the government “will promptly disclose updates on the deadly incident to the public.”

Leaders and people around the globe – including UN secretary general Antonio Guterres and chairperson of the AU Commission Moussa Faki Mahamat, have expressed their condolences as the shock plunged the world into grief.

Guterres “was deeply saddened at the tragic loss of lives in the airplane crash,” said Stephane Dujarric, spokesperson for the secretary general, on Sunday.

“He conveys his heartfelt sympathies and solidarity to the victims’ families and loved ones … as well as sincere condolences to the government and people of Ethiopia,” Dujarric added.

The AU Commission’s chairperson also expressed his “utter shock and immense sadness” as he disclosed the AU’s “full solidarity with the government and people of Ethiopia.”

Meanwhile, the Kenyan government has formed two emergency centres for those affected by the tragedy, as the East African country records the highest number of casualties from the tragic incident, in which 32 of the victims were Kenyans.

Kenya has also sent a team to Ethiopia to deal with the aftermath of the crash.

Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau, whose country lost 18 nationals from the plane crash, also in a statement on Sunday said “I am deeply saddened by the terrible plane crash.”

Trudeau further offered condolences to “those who have lost family, friends, and loved ones as a result of this tragedy.”

The Chinese foreign ministry’s spokesperson, Lu Kang, also late on Sunday extended profound condolences to the victims, and deep sympathy to the bereaved families, and urged Ethiopian authorities to find out the cause of the crash.

Ethiopian Airlines on Monday disclosed that both data and voice recorders on the crashed aircraft have been recovered.

“Ethiopia has continued monitoring the situation closely with all stakeholders, and is providing all the necessary support to the families of the deceased in its temporarily established family assistance centres in the Addis Ababa and Nairobi airports,” the airline said in a statement.

Earlier on Monday, Ethiopian Airlines announced its decision to suspend commercial operations of all Boeing 737-8 Max aircraft.

The Nairobi-bound Boeing 737-8 Max crashed on Sunday near Bishoftu town, about 45km from the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, just minutes after take-off from Bole International Airport, killing all 157 people on board.

– Nampa-Xinhua

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