Who is the Sudanese Victim of ET302 Crash?

Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 crashed on Sunday, 10 March 2018 shortly after takeoff from Addis Ababa airport en route to the Kenyan capital of Nairobi, killing all of its 157 passengers including the pilot and crew members.

The plane plunged after the pilot reported problems minutes after taking off. The plane crash has raised questions about the safety of the aircraft model, the Boeing 737 Max 8. Ethiopia, China and Indonesia airlines have now grounded all Boeing 737 Max 8 aircrafts.

The passengers were from at least 35 countries – Kenya (32), Canada (18), Ethiopia (9), China (8), Italy (8), USA (8), France (7), UK (7), Egypt (6), Germany (5), India (4), Slovakia (4), Austria (3), Russia (3), Sweden (3), Israel (2), Morocco (2), Poland (2), Spain (2), Tunisia (1), Hong Kong (1), Belgium (1), Djibouti (1), Indonesia (1), Ireland (1), Mozambique (1), Norway (1), Rwanda (1), Saudi Arabia (1), Sudan (1), Somalia (1), Serbia (1), Togo (1), Uganda (1), Yemen (1), Nepal (1), and Nigeria (1).

Social media users have claimed that the Sudanese victim of the plane crash is a Sudanese national named Hisham Abukalam. However, UNHCR confirmed that Sudanese citizen Nadia Adam Abaker Ali, 40, was killed in the plane crash. She was a staff member of the United Nations refugee agency, UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). She was killed along with two other staff members of UNHCR, Jessica Hyla, 43, from Canada and Jackson Musoni, 31, from Rwanda.

Ali, who leaves a husband and six-year-old daughter, was a health specialist who joined UNHCR in Nyala, Sudan in 2010, helping Sudanese people who fled from Darfur. Musoni also worked in Sudan helping to coordinate operations in East Darfur. He leaves three children, aged eight, five and four. 

At least 22 of the deceased passengers worked for United Nations-affiliated agencies including the World Food Program (7), UN Office in Nairobi (6), High Commissioner on Refugees (2), International Telecomms Union (2), Food and Agriculture Organisation (1), International Organization for Migration – Sudan (1) and UN Assistance Mission in Somalia (1). A minute of silence was observed in memory of the victims, while the UN’s flag was lowered to half-mast in Geneva and Nairobi. 

The International Organization for Migration (IMO) said Anne-Katrin Feigl, a German national from its Sudan office, was among those killed. Feigl was en route to a training course in Nairobi.

On Monday, 11 March, Sudan extended condolences to Ethiopia over the plane crash. In a statement, Sudan’s foreign minister, Eldirdiri Mohamed Ahmed, said:

‘Sudan’s Ministry of foreign affairs extends the sincere condolences of Sudan government and people to brotherly Ethiopia over the crash incident of the Ethiopian Airlines plane…The ministry also extends its condolences to the families, friends, countries and peoples of the victims.’