The Ethiopian Airlines flight crashed only a little after its takeoff on Sunday. On it were international experts and humanitarian workers, mostly, who were going to a major United Nations environmental summit in Nairobi, Kenya. It’s been said to crash due to a snag in the flight control and structure itself.
Among the 157 people killed, 21 were UN staff members. Flight ET302 had crashed in a field outside the town, Addis Ababa in Ethiopia. Passengers were from at least 35 different countries.
Due to the UN Environment Assembly taking place on Monday, the plane was at capacity with staff and attendees. The UN summit was to bring together members of the world’s highest decision body on the environment to make environmental changes.
Many UN officials made sure to pay their respects at the beginning of the meeting in Kenya. To fully respect and mourn, the UN flags were lowered half-mast. “Many of those that lost their lives were on route to provide support and participate in the UN Environment Assembly. We lost UN staff, youth delegates traveling to the Assembly, seasoned scientists, members of academia and other partners,” stated the acting executive director, Joyce Msuya, of the UN Environmental Program.
For specific data, according to the Ethiopian airline, there were at least 18 Canadians, 9 Ethiopians, 32 Kenyans, 8 from United States, China, and Italy, as well as 7 people from France and the UK.
Sarah Auffret was on her way to the assembly as well to talk about a proposed project to fight plastic pollution in the seas. “Words cannot describe the sorrow and despair we feel. We have lost a true friend and beloved colleague,” the Association of Arctic Expedition Cruise Operators said.
Many organizations such as the FAO, the World Bank, the UNSOM, the ITU, and the UNON lost staff members in the crash. Talking about specific people, Michael Ryan who was a global deputy chief engineer for WFP was declared dead. He helped create safe grounds for the refugees of Rohingya, and he did many other great things.
All in all though, Kenya had the largest amount of victims. For example, Cedric Asiavugwa was found dead at the site who was so passionate about helping refugees out and was on his third year of law at Georgetown University. Not only that, he had a fiancée who must be devastated. Another Kenyan aboard was Hussein Swaleh, the former general of Kenya’s Football Federation.
No matter what, everyone whose lives were cost in the plane crash will continue to be celebrated due to their selfless contributions and humanitarian work.
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