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E-mail Xinhua, March 11, 2025
ADDIS ABABA, March 11 (Xinhua) -- A memorial monument for the 157 Ethiopian Airlines crash victims was erected as Ethiopia marked the sixth anniversary of the tragic incident.
The deadly incident on March 10, 2019, the worst air disaster in the history of Africa's fastest-growing airline, killed all 157 people aboard Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302, a Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft, including eight crew members, shortly after taking off en route to Nairobi, Kenya.
On Monday, a special commemorative event was held at the crash site to mark the sixth anniversary of the tragedy, with victims' families joining senior Ethiopian government officials, Ethiopian Airlines executives and staff members, as well as members of the diplomatic community based in Ethiopia's capital of Addis Ababa.
During the event, a monument was erected around Bishoftu town, some 45 km from Addis Ababa, where the crash occurred a few minutes after the aircraft took off from the Addis Ababa Bole International Airport en route to Nairobi.
Speaking at the commemorative event, Ethiopia's Minister of Transport and Logistics Alemu Sime emphasized the country's ongoing commitment to ensuring air transport safety. He stressed that the "tragic and devastating" incident has pushed the global aviation industry to take significant steps to enhance safety, improve aircraft design, and strengthen oversight.
According to Ethiopian Airlines, the 157 victims included 32 from Kenya, 18 from Canada, nine from Ethiopia, eight each from China, Italy and the United States, seven each from Britain and France, six from Egypt, and five from the Netherlands, along with passengers from more than 25 other countries.
A final report on Ethiopia's investigation into the deadly Boeing 737 MAX 8 crash, released in December 2022, blamed a failure in the aircraft's safety features as the primary cause of the disaster.
The crash prompted Ethiopian Airlines and many other airlines worldwide to ground their Boeing 737 MAX jets. Nearly three years after the disaster, in February 2022, the Ethiopian flag carrier flew its Boeing 737 MAX jet for the first time since the tragic incident. Enditem
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