Plane crashes off Beirut coast

An Ethiopian Airlines flight crashed into the Mediterranean Sea just minutes after taking off in Beirut early this morning. Ninety people (including seven crew) were aboard the flight bound for Addis Ababa that included 54 Lebanese and 22 Ethiopians as well as passengers of other nationalities. Early reports indicate that most of the Lebanese passengers were probably either traveling to Ethiopia or elsewhere in Africa where many Lebanese citizens work and live. The Ethiopians passengers were most likely migrant domestic workers returning from their jobs in Lebanon back to their homes. It’s also been reported that the wife of the French Ambassador in Lebanon was a passenger on the flight. As of now, a couple dozen bodies have been recovered from the sea and there is little hope of finding any survivors.

Samira Hossein mourns the loss of her sister, Mikia, who was a passenger on the Ethiopian Airlines flight that crashed off the coast of Beirut this morning. The two sisters came to Lebanon to be employed as domestic workers for Lebanese families. (image: matthew cassel)

A Lebanese flag flies at half mast outside Beirut's airport. (image: matthew cassel)

This entry was posted on Monday, January 25th, 2010 at 14:13 and is filed under blog, photos and tagged with beirut, Ethiopia, Lebanon, MDW, workers. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.