World leaders pour condolences for crash victims

World leaders pour condolences for crash victims

World leaders pour condolences for crash victims

Written by Staff Writer

11 Mar, 2019 | 11:32 am

People around the world are mourning the loss of their loved ones after an Ethiopian Airlines passenger jet crashed en route to Nairobi from Addis Ababa, killing all 157 people on board. The victims – 149 passengers and eight crew members – included at least 35 nationalities.

As the news of the crash united the world in grief, an outpouring of shock and sadness spread on social media.

In a post on Twitter, Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s office expressed its “deepest condolences” to the families of the victims, while authorities declared Monday a day of national mourning. Nine Ethiopians were killed in the crash.

With 32 people on board the Flight ET 302 hailing from Kenya, the East African country suffered the most losses in the accident. Among the victims was Hussein Swaleh, the former secretary general of the Kenyan football federation, who was due to return home after working as the match commissioner in an African Champions League game in Egypt on Friday.

Kenya’s President Uhuru Kenyatta offered prayers for the family members and loved ones of those on the flight.

Nairobi is due to host a UN environmental conference on Monday, and Antonio Guterres, the world body’s chief, confirmed in a statement that among the victims were UN staff. Guterres said he was “deeply saddened” by the crash and sent his sympathies to the families of the victims.

David Beasley, the UN’s World Food Program director, also said his organization had lost employees.

In Canada, the country with the second-highest number of victims, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau also took to Twitter to express his grief, including for the 18 Canadians who perished.

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