Ethiopian Airlines Flight 409 Crashes off Lebanon,90 Feared Dead
An Ethiopian Airlines passenger aircraft with nearly 90 on-board has crashed into the Mediterranean after it lost contact with air traffic control soon after it took off for Addis Ababa from Beirut, say reports citing Lebanese officials.
Rescue operations are continuing amid strong winds and heavy rains even as Lebanese army officials informed the local media that they had rescued seven survivors.
Other reports say rescue workers have only found four dead and no survivors.
UN peacekeepers present in the area are also reported to have joined the search and rescue operation.
The ill-fated Ethiopian Airlines Flight 409, a Boeing 737-800, took off from the Rafik Hariri airport carrying seven crew members and 82 passengers.
Those on-board included 51 Lebanese nationals, 23 Ethiopians, two Britons, an Iraqi, a Turk, a Syrian, a Canadian, a Russian and a person from France, the airline said.
Among the passengers was the wife of the French ambassador to Lebanon, say reports citing Anne Charlotte of the French embassy in Beirut.
Though the cause behind the crash is not immediately clear, Lebanese President Michel Sulayman said: “We don’t believe that there is any indication for sabotage or foul play.”
