Ten Arabs were among the 149 passengers that were killed in the Ethiopian Airlines crash on Sunday.
One Saudi, six Egyptian, two Moroccans and a Yemeni were on board the Ethiopian Airlines flight that plunged to the ground on its way to Kenya, killing all 157 people on board.
The plane was also carrying at least 19 United Nations officials, some of whom were en route to a major UN-sponsored environmental conference in Nairobi, Kenya.
The World Food Programme, the UN Refugee Agency and the Food and Agriculture Organisation were among UN agencies reporting personnel losses. The casualty list also included a professor, the CEO of a restaurant company and a Kenyan soccer official.
French President Emmanuel Macron and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres are among those expected to attend the UN Environment Assembly set to begin Monday, along with more than 4,700 heads of state, ministers and executives. Topics include sustainable consumption and production, plastic pollution, food waste and climate change. Outcomes from the meeting are to set the global environmental agenda and boost chances of success in the Paris Agreement and 2030 Agenda, according to a UN press release Sunday.
The Boeing 737 Max crashed shortly after takeoff from Ethiopia’s capital, marking the second deadly accident in five months for the new version of the company’s best-selling jet. The passenger list includes 32 Kenyans and 18 Canadians, the largest two groups by nationality.
The crash comes as “devastating news,” Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said in a tweet, and saying in a later statement that the nation was offering consular assistance and working with Ethiopian authorities.
Macron extended his condolences to the families of the victims, which the airline said included seven French nationals.
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