Saudi national among 157 people killed in Ethiopian Airlines crash

A Saudi national was among the 157 people who were killed in the Ethiopian Airlines ET 302 crash on Sunday morning.

The Boeing 737 Max aircraft, which was flying from Ethiopian capital Addis Adaba to Kenya’s Nairobi, crashed six minutes after take-off. There were no survivors.

According to the manifest shared by the airline, the 149 passengers and eight crew members belonged to 35 nationalities, including 32 Kenyan citizens, 18 Canadian nationals, nine people from Ethiopia, and eight from Italy, China and the US.

Many of those on board the flight were due to attend the United Nations environment assembly in Nairobi, which starts on Monday.

Saudi ambassador to Ethiopia Abdullah Al-Arjani told local daily Okaz that the Saudi citizen who was on the flight was working in the recruitment sector.

He said the family of the deceased contacted the Saudi embassy in Addis Ababa.

“We are working with the pertinent authorities to locate the body of the Saudi citizen,” he added.

Ethiopian Airlines said it has contacted the families of all the victims.

A committee comprising of Ethiopian Airlines, the country’s civil aviation authority and transport authority has been set up to conduct a forensic investigation.

Once the identities of the deceased are identified, their bodies will be delivered to their families, a statement from the airline said.

Read: Ethiopian Airlines flight to Nairobi crashes killing all 157 people onboard

Group CEO of Ethiopian Airlines Tewolde Gebremariam, who visited the crash site, said: “It is too early to speculate the cause of the accident and further investigation will be carried out to find out the cause of the accident in collaboration with all stakeholders including the aircraft manufacturer Boeing, Ethiopian Civil Aviation Authority and other international entities.

“Information will be provided once the cause is identified. Ethiopian Airlines will provide all the necessary support to the families of the victims.”

The plane’s captain, Yared Getachew, had cumulative flight hours of more than 8,000 while first officer Ahmed Nur Mohammod Nur had flight hours of 200.

The airline also announced that it had decided to ground its Boeing 737-8 MAX fleet from March 10 until further notice.

“Although we don’t yet know the cause of the accident, we had to decide to ground the particular fleet as extra safety precaution,” it said.