Nineteen UN staffers among 157 killed in Ethiopian Airlines crash

UNITED NATIONS, Mar 11 (APP):An Ethiopian Airlines plane that crashed Sunday killing 157 people on board, including 19 UN officials, some of whom were enroute to a major UN-sponsored environmental conference in Nairobi, Kenya, according to UN security officials.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said in a statement that he was “deeply saddened at the tragic loss of lives”.
The Boeing-737 airliner took off at 8:44 am local time, losing contact with air traffic control at Bole International Airport in Addis Ababa, just six
minutes later, according to news reports. The plane was reportedly carrying passengers from more than 35 different countries.
The UN chief conveyed his “heartfelt sympathies and solidarity to the victims’ families and loved ones, including those of United Nations staff
members, as well as sincere condolences to the Government and people of Ethiopia”.
According to the UN Department of Safety and Security in Kenya, 19 UN staff perished in the crash. The World Food Programme (WFP) lost seven
staff, the Office of the High Commissioner on Refugees (UNHCR) lost two, as did the International Telecommunications Union (ITU). The Food and
Agriculture Organization (FAO), International Organization for Migration (IOM) in Sudan, World Bank and UN Assistance Mission in Somalia
(UNSOM) each lost one staff member. Six staff from the UN Office in Nairobi (UNON) were also tragically killed.
The cause of the disaster is not yet known, although weather conditions were reportedly good and the plane went down in a field near Bishoftu,
around 35 miles southeast of the capital.
The UN is in contact with the Ethiopian authorities and “working closely with them to establish the details of United Nations personnel
who lost their lives in this tragedy,” the secretary-general stated.
The disaster happened on the eve of the UN Environment Assembly when Heads of State, environment ministers and thousands of others will
convene for five days in the Kenyan capital.
Many senior UN officials took to Social Media to express their condolences and sadness. On Twitter, José Graziano da Silva, Director General of the
Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO,) sent his “heartfelt condolences and sympathies to the bereaved families”, saying that one FAO staff
member was among the victims.

Executive Director of the World Food Programme (WFP) David Beasley tweeted that “the WFP family mourns today”, adding that “we will do all that is humanly possible to help the families at this painful time. Please keep them in your thoughts and prayers”, he said.

As a mark of respect IOM said it would “fly its flag at half-mast at its offices tomorrow, as will the UN and it’s agencies”.