Two Nigerians, Professor Pius Adesanmi and Ambassador Abiodun Bashua, have been confirmed dead in the Ethiopian Airlines Flight ET 302 from Addis Ababa to Nairobi that crashed on Sunday morning carrying 157 passengers and crew.
Professor Adesanmi, who is reported to have been flying with his Canadian passport, is a popular columnist who teaches at Carlton University in Canada, while Ambassador Bashua, was carrying a UN passport, and was with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Bashua was former UN and AU Deputy Joint Special Representative in Darfur, Sudan.
The Ethiopian Airlines plane crashed shortly after leaving Addis Ababa for Nairobi in Kenya.
Carleton University has since confirmed Adesanmi’s death, saying the whole community is shocked and saddened to learn of his death.
Ethiopian Airlines said the crashed aircraft B-737-800MAX with registration number ET- AVJ took off at 08:38 am local time from Addis Ababa Bole International Airport and lost contact at 08:44 am. It was on a scheduled service from Addis Ababa to Nairobi before getting involved in an accident around Bishoftu (Debre Zeit).