90 Killed In Ethiopian Airplane Crash

Two Britons were tonight among 90 people feared dead after an Ethiopian airliner crashed into the Mediterranean Sea in heavy storms.

Ethiopian Airlines Flight 409 took off at 2.30am from Beirut airport. The Boeing 737 lost contact with the control tower shortly afterwards.

The control tower was assisting the pilot of the plane on take-off and suddenly lost contact for no known reason, Ghazi Aridi, the Lebanese Minister of Transport, said.

The aircraft was seen crashing into the sea in a ball of fire about seven miles south of the airport and 3.5 miles off the coast. Michel Suleiman, the Lebanese President ruled out sabotage.


Ethiopian plane crash
As dusk fell today, some 30 bodies had been recovered, but hopes were fading that anyone survived. Among the 90 passengers and crew were 54 Lebanese, including two who also held British passports, 20 Ethiopians and two French citizens, one of them Marla Sanchez Pietton, the wife of Denis Pietton, the French ambassador to Beirut. Her body was among those recovered.

Afif Krisht, 57, was one of two Britons on board the Ethiopian airliner. Mohammed Tajieddine, his uncle, said Mr Krisht was travelling with two others from his village to Angola, where he had a business. Nobody has told us anything, Mr Tajieddine said. We dont know if they are alive, dead, whether their bodies have been recovered.

The rescue operation was led by the Lebanese navy with assistance from a United Nations maritime task force which patrols the Lebanese coastline. The Royal Air Force sent a helicopter and France sent a plane, both from the nearby island of Cyprus. The US Navys Sixth Fleet based in the Mediterranean also offered to help in the search.

The wreckage scattered over the sea drifted north on the current and by mid-morning was a mile off the coast opposite Beirut airport. Hundreds of onlookers gathered on the seafront, ignoring the cold wind and salty sea spray to watch helicopters flying low over the sea searching for survivors. Soldiers dragged ashore wreckage, including seats.

Sa'ad Hariri, the Lebanese Prime Minister who was in Saudi Arabia, returned to Beirut and met relatives of the passengers at the airport.

Category:

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[solomonpilot767]

@dr1gba never man ethiopian Air Lines will never go down!

[dr1gba]

@solomonpilot767

juhuuu

ethiopian airline is going down

[the0matt]

@akmassiv

:3

[MrMusclefish]

@solomonpilot767 No, they are just Niggers

[solomonpilot767]

@MrMusclefish fuck u ass hole ,they are human!

[MrMusclefish]

FUCKING NIGGERS

[the0matt]

@TRDIGFV

ditto my friend! :3

white power!

[akmassiv]

my dad is afif krisht....he wa son the flight.....and the person who lol'd....i hope ur mother gets raped and her head cut off and left in your bed for u to fuck u motherfucker.

[the0matt]

i lold

[solomonpilot767]

i think the mossad did something!