Former president Mahama commiserates with Ethiopians

Former President John Dramani Mahama has also extended his condolence to the Prime Minister of Ethiopia, Abiy Ahmed, on the news of the Ethiopian Airlines crash on Sunday, 10 March 2019, which killed all on board.

In a Facebook post, the presidential candidate for the main opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) said: “We received news of the crash of Ethiopian Airlines ET302, bound for Nairobi, with shock and dismay. As we are all know, ET has been the aviation workhorse of Africa and it is normal for many of us to fly to Addis Ababa and connect through Bole Airport to the many far-flung destinations across Africa and the world.

“Our hearts go out, at this time, to Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Ali, the Ethiopian people and the families of all who perished in the crash. This is surely a difficult time for the families of the dead, their employers, and the management and staff of Ethiopian Airlines.”

According to a statement from Ethiopian Airlines, the aircraft, a Boeing 737 MAX 8, which was carrying 149 passengers and 8 crew members, lost contact with air traffic controllers, some six minutes after take-off, crashing near Bishoftu, southeast of the Ethiopian capital.

The statement did not say, immediately, the cause of the plane crash, but indicated that the plane was a new one, and had only been delivered to the airline in November.

The pilot, who had been working for the carrier since 2010, sent out a distress call shortly after take-off and was given clearance to return.

Ethiopian state media has stated that more than 30 nationalities were on board flight ET 302, including 32 Kenyans, 9 Ethiopians, 18 Canadians, 8 Chinese, 8 Americans, 8 Italians, 7 French, 7 British, 6 Egyptians, 5 Dutch, 4 Indians, 4 Slovaks, and 2 Spaniards.