By Chioma Obinagwam
A Nigerian has been confirmed to be among the over 157 passengers that died in the Ethiopian Airlines Flight on Sunday morning, March 10, 2019.
Confiance News learnt from a source close to Ethiopian Head quarters, who spoke under condition of anonymity that the Nigerian on board the ill-fated aircraft is the Retired Nigerian Ambassador Abiodun Bashua.
Another Nigerian with Canadian citizenship, Professor Pius Adesanmi, was also on board the ill-fated flight ET302.
Ethiopian Airlines Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Tewolde Gebremariam told journalists that 32 Kenyan, nine Ethiopian, eight U.S. and eight Chinese nationals were also among the dead, Ethiopian Airlines Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Tewolde Gebremariam told journalists.
The nationalities of the other passengers remained unknown.
None of the people on board the Boeing 737 that crashed en route from Addis Ababa to Nairobi survived, the airline said.
The aircraft, a Boeing 737 MAX 8, took off at 08:38am and lost contact with air traffic controllers six minutes later.
The airline further disclosed that the crash occured near Bishoftu, southeast of the Ethiopian capital, killing all 149 passengers and eight crew members on board.
Ethiopian Airline is known as Africa’s largest and oldest airline company.
