BEIRUT (AFP) - – An Ethiopian airliner carrying 90 people exploded in a ball of flames and plunged into the sea off Lebanon just after takeoff in stormy weather early on Monday, officials and witnesses said.
A massive international search and rescue operation involving helicopters and ships was scrambled as President Michel Sleiman said there was no immediate suspicion foul play was involved and grim-faced officials played down hopes of any survivors.
A Lebanese security official said that by early afternoon at least 24 bodies had been pulled from the sea, including that of a child. One rescue official told AFP that some of the bodies recovered were dismembered while another said bodies were floating in the water.
The health ministry said it had set up a crisis unit in a bid to identify the victims trough DNA tests or items of jewellery found on their persons.
Debris from the Boeing 737, which was headed to the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa, as well as luggage and personal belongings could be seen washing up on the shoreline south of the capital.
A defence ministry official said the plane exploded into four pieces before crashing shortly after takeoff at 2:30 am (0030 GMT) in a heavy thunderstorm.
He said it was unclear what caused the crash.
Witnesses reported seeing flames as the plane plunged into the sea.
One employee of a gas station near the site of the crash said he heard an explosion and saw "a huge ball of fire" as the plane crashed.
Another witness said: "It was like the whole sea lit up."
Transport Minister Ghazi Aridi said Ethiopian Airlines Flight 409 lost contact with the airport control tower shortly after takeoff and crashed into the Mediterranean sea 2.5 nautical miles off the coastal town of Naameh, south of the airport.
"The control tower was assisting the pilot of the plane on takeoff and suddenly lost contact for no known reason," Aridi told reporters.
The Lebanese army, navy as well as the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) and aircraft from France, Britain, Cyprus and the United States were assisting in the rescue, officials said.
Families of the passengers, some of them weeping uncontrollably, huddled at the VIP lounge of Beirut International Airport to await news of their loved ones. Related article: Traumatised families await news
Prime Minister Saad Hariri, parliament speaker Nabih Berri as well as a number of ministers and deputies were at the airport to comfort the families.
One woman sobbed and screamed "why, why?" as others fainted and had to be carried away by Red Cross volunteers.
"I know they won't find him," wailed one woman, referring to her husband who was on board the flight.
"We are working with all the power we have to try and find missing people from this tragedy," Hariri told reporters. "We are working to find the black box that will tell us what really happened on the plane."
An AFP correspondent saw eight empty airplane seats that had washed up on the shore, just south of the airport. Soldiers could also be seen on a beach dragging large metal chunks of the plane.
Sleiman said authorities had ruled out terrorism or sabotage as the cause of the crash.
"Up until now we have ruled out foul play," Sleiman told reporters.
"This is a painful tragic event. We are sparing no efforts in trying to find survivors," he added.
The Ethiopian News Agency in Addis Ababa said Ethiopian Airlines has sent a team to Beirut to investigate the crash.
Lebanon has been lashed by heavy rains and storms in the past two days that have caused flooding and damage in some parts of the country. Related article: Recent plane crashes over water
Officials listed 83 passengers and seven crew members on board the flight.
The passengers comprise 54 Lebanese, 23 Ethiopians, one French woman, one British national, one Iraqi, one Syrian, one Turkish, one unknown and seven crew members. Three of the Lebanese held due nationality -- one from Britain, one from Canada and one from Russia.
A Lebanese deputy, Yassin Jaber, said 15 of those on board hailed from the southern town of Nabatiyeh.
The French passenger was identified as Marla Sanchez Pietton, the wife of France's ambassador to Lebanon, Denis Pietton, the French embassy told AFP.
Thousands of Ethiopians are employed as domestic workers in Lebanon and Ethiopian Airlines operates a regular flight between Addis Ababa and Beirut.
Many Lebanese, especially from the south of the country, work in Africa and Addis Ababa is a transit point.
Hariri declared Monday a national day of mourning, as parliament cancelled a scheduled legislative session.
The Boeing 737-800, which entered into commercial service in 1998, is one of the latest versions of the world's most widely used short to medium-haul airliners, and is capable of carrying up to 189 passengers. Background: Ethiopian Airlines
Ethiopian Airlines, which was established in 1946 and operates an all-Boeing fleet, is considered one of Africa's best carriers and was excluded from a 2006 European Union ban on about 100 carriers, most of them African.
But in November 1996 Ethiopian Airlines Flight 961 was hijacked between Addis Ababa and Nairobi by three Ethiopians seeking political asylum. The aircraft crashed into the Indian Ocean off the Comoros when it ran out of fuel, killing 125 of the 175 people on board.
And in September 1988 one of the airline's Boeing 737s made a crash landing at Bahar Dar in Ethiopia after birds entered both engines during takeoff. Thirty one of the 105 people on board were killed.
No comments:
Post a Comment