Ethiopia Declares National Day of Mourning After Plane Crash

Ethiopia’s parliament issued a statement declaring Monday a day of national mourning in light of the tragic plane crash near the capital Sunday that killed all 157 people on board flight ET302.

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On Sunday an Ethiopian Airlines flight headed from Addis Ababa to Nairobi, Kenya crashed mid-route taking with it all 149 passengers and eight crew members on board. The airplane was headed to Nairobi, Kenya.

According to Ethiopian Airlines the victims hailed from more than 30 nationalities, including 17 Ethiopians, 32 Kenyas, and 18 Canadians. Eight passengers held Chinese passports.

The flight left Bole airport in Ethiopia's capital at 8:38 am local time when it lost contact with air control only minutes later at 8:44 am.

The airline says it still does not know the cause of the crash.  

At least 19 of the passengers were employees of the United Nations, according to the UN migration agency chief.

“Early indications are that 19 staff members of UN affiliated organisations perished,” said International Organization for Migration head Antonio Vitorino.

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“Numerous other staff members from at least five UN and affiliated organizations are understood to have also perished,” he said. Along with the IOM, the World Food Programme, UN Refugee Agency, World Bank, UN Environment Agency and others lost colleagues, he said.

World Food Programme director David Beasley confirmed seven of his staff had died, saying: “As we mourn, let us reflect that each of these WFP colleagues were willing to travel and work far from their homes and loved ones to help make the world a better place to live.”

In a statement, Geneva-based UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Filippo Grandi said his agency had suffered a "huge loss" with the death of some of its employees who also perished in the crash.