Ethiopian crash victims were aid workers, doctors, academics

1 / 4
Sarah Auffret from the UK was identified as a victim of the doomed Ethiopian Airlines flight which crashed shortly after take off from Addis Ababa on Sunday Morning. (AP)
Updated 11 March 2019
Follow

Ethiopian crash victims were aid workers, doctors, academics

  • The victims included three Austrian physicians, the co-founder of an international aid organization, a career ambassador and the wife and children of a Slovak legislator

ADDIS ABABA: Three Austrian physicians. The co-founder of an international aid organization. A career ambassador. The wife and children of a Slovak legislator. A Nigerian-born Canadian college professor and satirist. They were among the 157 people from 35 countries who died Sunday morning when an Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 MAX 8 jetliner crashed shortly after takeoff from Addis Ababa en route to Nairobi, Kenya. Here are some of their stories.
___
Kenya: 32 victims
— Hussein Swaleh, the former secretary general of the Football Kenya Federation, was named as being among the dead by Sofapaka Football Club. He was returning home on the flight after working as the match commissioner in an African Champions League game in Egypt on Friday.
— Cedric Asiavugwa, who studied international business and economic law at Georgetown University in Washington, was on his way to Nairobi after the death of his fiancee's mother, the university said in a statement.
___
Canada: 18 victims
— Pius Adesanmi, a Nigerian professor with Carleton University in Ottawa, was on his way to a meeting of the African Union's Economic, Social and Cultural Council in Nairobi, Nigeria's representative to the panel, John O. Oba, told The Associated Press.




Pius Adesanmi


Adesanmi is the author of "Naija No Dey Carry Last," a collection of satirical essays.
"Pius was a towering figure in African and post-colonial scholarship and his sudden loss is a tragedy," said Benoit-Antoine Bacon, Carleton's president and vice chancellor.
Adesanmi was the winner of the inaugural Penguin Prize for African non-fiction writing in 2010.
—Mohamed Hassan Ali confirmed that he had lost his sister and niece.
Ali said his sister, Amina Ibrahim Odowaa, 33, and her 5-year-old daughter, Sofia Faisal Abdulkadir, were on board the jet. He said his sister lived in Edmonton and was travelling to Kenya to visit with relatives.
— Derick Lwugi, an accountant with the City of Calgary, was also among the victims, his wife, Gladys Kivia, said. He leaves behind three children, aged 17, 19 and 20. Lwugi had been headed to Kenya to visit both of their parents.
___
Ethiopia: 9 victims
— Catholic Relief Services said four of its Ethiopian staff members died. The aid group in a statement says Sara Chalachew, Getnet Alemayehu, Sintayehu Aymeku, and Mulusew Alemu had been traveling to Nairobi for training.
The four had worked with the organization for as long as a decade. They worked in procurement, logistics and finance.
— The aid group Save the Children said an Ethiopian colleague died in the crash.
Tamirat Mulu Demessie was a technical adviser on child protection in emergencies and "worked tirelessly to ensure that vulnerable children are safe during humanitarian crises," the group said in a statement.
___
China: 8 victims
— A statement from the Chinese Embassy in Addis Ababa said the Chinese victims included five men and three women, including one person from the semi-autonomous region of Hong Kong.
Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang said two United Nations workers were among the eight Chinese killed. Four were working for a Chinese company and two had travelled to Ethiopia for "private matters."
___
Italy: 8 victims
— Paolo Dieci, one of the founders of the International Committee for the Development of Peoples, was among the dead, the group said on its website.
"The world of international cooperation has lost one of its most brilliant advocates and Italian civil society has lost a precious point of reference," wrote the group, which partners with UNICEF in northern Africa. UNICEF Italia sent a tweet of condolences over Dieci's death, noting that the group was a partner in Kenya, Libya and Algeria.
— Sebastiano Tusa, the Sicilian regional assessor to the Italian Culture Ministry, was en route to Nairobi when the plane crashed, according to Sicilian regional President Nello Musemeci. Tusa was also a noted underwater archaeologist.
— The World Food Program confirmed that two of the Italian victims worked for the Rome-based U.N. agency. A WFP spokeswoman identified the victims as Virginia Chimenti and Maria Pilar Buzzetti.
— Three other Italians worked for the Bergamo-based humanitarian agency, Africa Tremila: Carlo Spini, his wife, Gabriella Viggiani and the treasurer, Matteo Ravasio.
___
United States: 8 victims
___
France: 7 victims
— A group representing members of the African diaspora in Europe is mourning the loss of its co-chairperson and "foremost brother," Karim Saafi. The 38-year-old French-Tunisian was on an official mission representing the African Diaspora Youth Forum in Europe, the group announced on its Facebook page.
"Karim's smile, his charming and generous personality, eternal positivity, and his noble contribution to Youth employment, diaspora engagement and Africa's socio-economic development will never be forgotten," the post read. Saafi left behind a fiancee.
— Sarah Auffret, a French-British national living in Tromsoe, northern Norway, was on the plane, the Association of Arctic Expedition Cruise Operators said. Auffret, a staffer, was on the way to Nairobi to talk about a Cleans Seas project in connection with the U.N. Environment Assembly this week, the company said in a statement.
___
Britain: 7 victims
— Joanna Toole, a 36-year-old from Exmouth, Devon, was heading to Nairobi to attend the United Nations Environment Assembly. Her father, Adrian, described her as a "very soft and loving" woman whose "work was not a job — it was her vocation."


He told the DevonLive website Toole used to keep homing pigeons and pet rats and traveled to the remote Faroe Islands to prevent whaling.
— Joseph Waithaka, 55, lived in Hull, England for a decade before moving back to his native Kenya, also died in the crash, his son told the Hull Daily Mail. Ben Kuria said his father had worked for the Probation Service, adding: "He helped so many people in Hull who had found themselves on the wrong side of the law."
___
Egypt: 6 victims
___
Germany: 5 victims
— The U.N. migration agency said that one of its staffers, German citizen Anne-Katrin Feigl, was en route to a training course in Nairobi.
— Rev. Norman Tendis was a long-time pastor in the protestant congregation of St. Ruprecht in Villach, Austria. The World Council of Churches said Monday that he was traveling to a U.N. environment summit in Nairobi. The 51-year-old is survived by his wife and three children.

 




Reverend Norman Tendis. (AP)


— The German development aid organization GIZ said one of its staff was also on the plane. GIZ spokeswoman Tanja Stumpff said the woman was on a business trip. She declined to provide further details, citing privacy reasons.
___
India: 4 victims
___
Slovakia: 4 victims
— A lawmaker of the Slovak Parliament said his wife, daughter and son were killed in the crash. Anton Hrnko, a legislator for the ultra-nationalist Slovak National Party, said he was "in deep grief" over the deaths of his wife, Blanka; son, Martin; and daughter, Michala. Their ages weren't immediately available.
Martin Hrnko worked for the Bubo travel agency and was traveling on vacation to Kenya, the agency said.
___
Sweden: 4 victims
— Hospitality company Tamarind Group announced "with immense shock and grief" that its chief executive Jonathan Seex was among the fatalities.
— The Stockholm-based Civil Rights Defenders, an international human rights group, said employee Josefin Ekermann, 30, was on board the plane. Ekermann, who worked to support human rights defenders, was on her way to meet Kenyan partner organizations. The group's executive director, Anders L. Pettersson, says "Josefin was a highly appreciated and respected colleague."
___
Austria: 3 victims
—Austrian Foreign Ministry spokesman Peter Guschelbauer confirmed that three Austrian doctors in their early 30s were on board the flight. The men were on their way to Zanzibar, he said, but he could not confirm the purpose of their trip.
___
Russia: 3 victims
—The Russian Embassy in Ethiopia said airline authorities had identified its deceased citizens as Yekaterina Polyakova, Alexander Polyakov and Sergei Vyalikov.
Russian news reports identified Polyakova and Polyakov as a married couple. State news agency RIA-Novosibirsk said the three were visiting Africa as tourists.
___
Israel: 2 victims
___
Morocco: 2 victims
___
Poland: 2 victims
— Poland's Foreign Ministry says two victims were men and not related to each other. The ministry does not plan to say more about them, citing the need to respect privacy and the interest of the men's families.
___
Spain: 2 victims
___
Belgium: 1 victim
___
Djibouti: 1 victim
___
Indonesia: 1 victim
___
Ireland: 1 victim
— Irishman Michael Ryan was among seven people from the United Nations' World Food Program who were killed.

The Rome-based aid worker and engineer known as Mick was thought to be married with two children. His work projects included creating safe conditions for Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh and assessing the damage to rural roads in Nepal that were blocked by landslides.
His mother, Christine Ryan, told broadcaster RTE "he never wanted a 9 to 5 job. He put everything into his work."
Irish premier Leo Varadkar said: "Michael was doing life-changing work in Africa with the World Food Program."
___
Mozambique: 1 victim
___
Nepal: 1 victim
___
Nigeria: 1 victim
—The Nigerian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it received the news of retired Ambassador Abiodun Oluremi Bashu's death "with great shock."
Bashu was born in Ibadan in 1951 and joined the Nigerian Foreign Service in 1976. He had served in different capacities both at headquarters and abroad, including in Austria, Ivory Coast and Tehran, Iran. He also served as secretary to the Conference of Parties of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change.
At the time of his death, Bashu was on contract with the United Nations Economic Commission of Africa.
___
Norway: 1 victim
—The Red Cross of Norway confirmed that Karoline Aadland, a finance officer, was on the flight. Aadland, 28, was originally from Bergen, Norway. The Red Cross said she was traveling to Nairobi for a meeting.
Aadland's Linkedin page says she had done humanitarian and environmental work. It says her work and studies had taken her to France, Kenya, South Africa and Malawi.




Karoline Aadland


___
Rwanda: 1 victim
___
Saudi Arabia: 1 victim
___
Serbia: 1 victim
Serbia's Foreign Ministry confirmed that a citizen of Serbia was on the plane and gave no details. Serbian media identified him as Djordje Vdovic, 54. The Vecernje Novosti newspaper reported Vdovic worked for the U.N. World Food Program.
___
Somalia: 1 victim
___
Sudan: 1 victim
___
Togo: 1 victim
___
Uganda: 1 victim
___
Yemen: 1 victim
___
U.N. passport: 1 victim
___


‘Return to your country’ Kabul tells Afghans rebuffed by Washington

Updated 58 min 7 sec ago
Follow

‘Return to your country’ Kabul tells Afghans rebuffed by Washington

  • US President Trump this week announced travel ban targeting 12 countries, including Afghanistan
  • Afghan PM assures nationals of protection even if they worked with US-led forces against Taliban

KABUL: The Taliban government on Saturday urged Afghans hoping to emigrate to the United States to instead return to Afghanistan, after Washington tightened entry conditions.

US President Donald Trump this week announced a travel ban targeting 12 countries, including Afghanistan, which his proclamation said lacked “competent” central authorities for processing passports and vetting.

Commenting on the ban on Saturday, Prime Minister Hassan Akhund urged Afghans to return to their country, saying they would be protected even if they worked with US-led forces in the two-decade fight against the Taliban insurgency.

“For those who are worried that America has closed its doors to Afghans... I want to tell them, ‘Return to your country, even if you have served the Americans for 20 or 30 years for their ends, and ruined the Islamic system’,” he said in a speech marking the Eid Al-Adha holiday, broadcast by state media.

“You will not face abuse or trouble,” he said, making reassurances that the Taliban Supreme Leader Hibatullah Akhundzada had “granted amnesty for all.”

After surging to power in 2021, Taliban authorities announced a general amnesty for Afghans who worked with the Western-backed forces and government. However, the United Nations has recorded reports of extrajudicial killings, detentions and abuses.

In the past four years, the Taliban government has imposed a strict view of Islamic law and restrictions on women which the UN says amount to “gender apartheid.”

Afghans fled in droves to neighboring countries during decades of conflict, but the chaotic withdrawal of US-led troops saw a new wave clamoring to escape Taliban government curbs and fears of reprisal for working with Washington.

The United States has not had a working embassy in Afghanistan since 2021 and Afghans must apply for visas in third countries, principally Pakistan which has recently ramped up campaigns to expel Afghans.

Since Trump returned to the White House in January, Afghans have gradually seen their chances of migrating to the United States or staying there shrink.

Trump administration orders have disrupted refugee pathways and revoked legal protections temporarily shielding Afghans from deportation starting in July.


France’s president will visit Greenland in a show of EU unity, Danish leader says

Updated 07 June 2025
Follow

France’s president will visit Greenland in a show of EU unity, Danish leader says

  • Frederiksen and the French leader said they will meet in the semiautonomous Danish territory on June 15
  • Frederiksen acknowledged the “difficult foreign policy situation in recent months”

COPENHAGEN: French President Emmanuel Macron will travel to Greenland next weekend, the Danish prime minister’s office said Saturday — a visit by a high-profile European Union leader in the wake of US expressions of interest in taking over the mineral-rich Arctic island.

Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and the French leader said they will meet in the semiautonomous Danish territory on June 15, hosted by Greenland’s new prime minister, Jens-Frederik Nielsen.

The visit by Macron, whose nuclear-armed country has one of the EU’s strongest militaries, comes as US President Donald Trump hasn’t ruled out using force to carry out his desire for the resource-rich and strategically located island to become part of the United States.

While the issue of US interest in Greenland has drifted from the headlines in recent weeks, Nielsen said in late April that such comments by US leaders have been disrespectful and that Greenland will never be “a piece of property” that anyone can buy.

In the statement Saturday, Frederiksen acknowledged the “difficult foreign policy situation in recent months” but praised “great international support” for Greenland and Denmark.

“President Macron’s upcoming visit to Greenland is yet another concrete testament to European unity,” she said, alluding to the membership of France and Denmark in the 27-member-country EU.

The three leaders were expected to discuss security in the North Atlantic and the Arctic, as well as issues of economic development, climate change and energy during the visit, her office said.


Wagner Group leaving Mali after heavy losses but Russia’s Africa Corps to remain

Updated 07 June 2025
Follow

Wagner Group leaving Mali after heavy losses but Russia’s Africa Corps to remain

“Mission accomplished. Private Military Company Wagner returns home,” the group announced
Mali, along with neighbors Burkina Faso and Niger, has for more than a decade battled an insurgency fought by armed groups

DAKAR: The Russia-backed Wagner Group said Friday it is leaving Mali after more than three and a half years of fighting Islamic extremists and insurgents in the country.

Despite Wagner’s announcement, Russia will continue to have a mercenary presence in the West African country. The Africa Corps, Russia’s state-controlled paramilitary force, said on its Telegram channel Friday that Wagner’s departure would not introduce any changes and the Russian contingent will remain in Mali.

“Mission accomplished. Private Military Company Wagner returns home,” the group announced via its channel on the messaging app Telegram. It said it had brought all regional capitals under control of the Malian army, pushed out armed militants and killed their commanders.

Mali, along with neighbors Burkina Faso and Niger, has for more than a decade battled an insurgency fought by armed groups, including some allied with Al-Qaeda and the Daesh group.

As Western influence in the region has waned, Russia has sought to step into the vacuum, sweeping in with offers of assistance. Moscow initially expanded its military cooperation with African nations by using the Wagner Group of mercenaries. But since the group’s leader, Yevgeny Prigozhin, was killed in a plane crash in 2023, after mounting a brief armed rebellion in Russia that challenged the rule of President Vladimir Putin, Moscow has been developing the Africa Corps as a rival force to Wagner.

Africa Corps is under direct command of the Russian defense ministry.

According to US officials, there are around 2,000 mercenaries in Mali. It is unclear how many are with Wagner and how many are part of the Africa Corps.

Beverly Ochieng, a security analyst specializing in the Sahel for Control Risks consultancy, said the Russian defense ministry had been negotiating with Mali to take on more Africa Corps fighters and for Wagner mercenaries to join Russia’s state-controlled paramilitary force.

“Since the death of Prigozhin, Russia has had this whole plan to then make the Wagner Group fall under the command of the Ministry of Defense. One of the steps they made was to revamp or introduce the Africa Corps, which is the way in which the Russian paramilitaries would retain a presence in areas where the Wagner group has been operating,” Ochieng said.

Wagner has been present in Mali since late 2021 following a military coup, replacing French troops and international peacekeepers to help fight the militants. But the Malian army and Russian mercenaries struggled to curb violence in the country and have both been accused of targeting civilians.

Last month, United Nations experts urged Malian authorities to investigate reports of alleged summary executions and forced disappearances by Wagner mercenaries and the army.

In December, Human Rights Watch accused Malian armed forces and the Wagner Group of deliberately killing at least 32 civilians over an 8-month span.

The announcement of Wagner’s withdrawal comes as the Malian army and the Russian mercenaries suffered heavy losses during attacks by the Al-Qaeda linked group JNIM in recent weeks.

Last week, JNIM fighters killed dozens of soldiers in an attack on a military base in central Mali.

Rida Lyammouri, a Sahel expert at the Morocco-based Policy Center for the New South, said the major losses might have caused the possible end of Wagner’s mission.

“The lack of an official and mutual announcement from both the Malian authorities and Wagner indicate possible internal dispute which led to this sudden decision. Simultaneously, this could point to a new framework for Russian presence in the country,” he said.

Replacing Wagner with Africa Corps troops would likely shift Russia’s focus in Mali from fighting alongside the Malian army to training, said Ulf Laessing, head of the Sahel program at the Konrad Adenauer Foundation.

“Africa Corps has a lighter footprint and focuses more on training, providing equipment and doing protection services. They fight less than the ‘Rambo-type’ Wagner mercenaries,” Laessing said.

‘Return to your country’ Kabul tells Afghans rebuffed by Washington

Updated 07 June 2025
Follow

‘Return to your country’ Kabul tells Afghans rebuffed by Washington

  • Akhund urged Afghans to return to their country, saying they would be protected even if they worked with US-led forces
  • “You will not face abuse or trouble”

KABUL: The Taliban government on Saturday urged Afghans hoping to emigrate to the United States to instead return to Afghanistan, after Washington tightened entry conditions.

US President Donald Trump this week announced a travel ban targeting 12 countries, including Afghanistan, which his proclamation said lacked “competent” central authorities for processing passports and vetting.

Commenting on the ban on Saturday, Prime Minister Hassan Akhund urged Afghans to return to their country, saying they would be protected even if they worked with US-led forces in the two-decade fight against the Taliban insurgency.

“For those who are worried that America has closed its doors to Afghans... I want to tell them, ‘Return to your country, even if you have served the Americans for 20 or 30 years for their ends, and ruined the Islamic system’,” he said in a speech marking the Eid Al-Adha holiday, broadcast by state media.

“You will not face abuse or trouble,” he said, making reassurances that the Taliban Supreme Leader Hibatullah Akhundzada had “granted amnesty for all.”

After surging to power in 2021, Taliban authorities announced a general amnesty for Afghans who worked with the Western-backed forces and government. However, the United Nations has recorded reports of extrajudicial killings, detentions and abuses.

In the past four years, the Taliban government has imposed a strict view of Islamic law and restrictions on women which the UN says amount to “gender apartheid.”

Afghans fled in droves to neighboring countries during decades of conflict, but the chaotic withdrawal of US-led troops saw a new wave clamouring to escape Taliban government curbs and fears of reprisal for working with Washington.

The United States has not had a working embassy in Afghanistan since 2021 and Afghans must apply for visas in third countries, principally Pakistan which has recently ramped up campaigns to expel Afghans.

Since Trump returned to the White House in January, Afghans have gradually seen their chances of migrating to the United States or staying there shrink.

Trump administration orders have disrupted refugee pathways and revoked legal protections temporarily shielding Afghans from deportation starting in July.


Ukrainian attack damaged 10 percent of Russia’s strategic bombers, Germany says

Updated 07 June 2025
Follow

Ukrainian attack damaged 10 percent of Russia’s strategic bombers, Germany says

  • “More than a dozen aircraft were damaged, TU-95 and TU-22 strategic bombers as well as A-50 surveillance planes,” Freuding said
  • US estimates that Ukraine’s audacious drone attack hit as many as 20 Russian warplanes

BERLIN: A Ukrainian drone attack last weekend likely damaged around 10 percent of Russia’s strategic bomber fleet and hit some of the aircraft as they were being prepared for strikes on Ukraine, a senior German military official said.

“According to our assessment, more than a dozen aircraft were damaged, TU-95 and TU-22 strategic bombers as well as A-50 surveillance planes,” German Major General Christian Freuding said in a YouTube podcast reviewed by Reuters ahead of its publication later on Saturday.

The affected A-50s, which function similarly to NATO’s AWACS planes by providing aerial situational awareness, were likely non-operational when they were hit, said the general who coordinates Berlin’s military aid to Kyiv and is in close touch with the Ukrainian defense ministry.

“We believe that they can no longer be used for spare parts. This is a loss, as only a handful of these aircraft exist,” he said. “As for the long-range bomber fleet, 10 percent of it has been damaged in the attack according to our assessment.”

The United States estimates that Ukraine’s audacious drone attack hit as many as 20 Russian warplanes, destroying around 10 of them, two US officials told Reuters, and experts say Moscow will take years to replace the affected planes.

Despite the losses, Freuding does not see any immediate reduction of Russian strikes against Ukraine, noting that Moscow still retains 90 percent of its strategic bombers which can launch ballistic and cruise missiles in addition to dropping bombs.

“But there is, of course, an indirect effect as the remaining planes will need to fly more sorties, meaning they will be worn out faster, and, most importantly, there is a huge psychological impact.”

Freuding said Russia had felt safe in its vast territory, which also explained why there was little protection for the aircraft.

“After this successful operation, this no longer holds true. Russia will need to ramp up the security measures.”

According to Freuding, Ukraine attacked two air fields around 100 kilometers (62 miles) from Moscow, as well as the Olenya air field in the Murmansk region and the Belaya air field, with drones trained with the help of artificial intelligence.

A fifth attack on the Ukrainka air field near the Chinese border failed, he said.

The bombers that were hit were part of Russia’s so-called nuclear triad which enables nuclear weapons deployment by air, sea and ground, he added.