The Management of the Ethiopian Airline has confirmed that two Nigerians are among the 157 passengers and eight crew that died in the Ethiopian Airlines 320 that crashed on Sunday.
The aircraft was en route from Addis Ababa to Nairobi with 149 passengers and eight crew on board.
An official of the airline who preferred anonymity said that Ambassador Abiodun Bashua and Prof. Pius Adesanmi were the two Nigerians that have their identity confirmed in the crash.
The official said: “Prof. Pius Adesanmi was carrying a Canadian passport.
“The other Nigerian had a UN passport.
“I’ve just been informed now that we lost a high profile Nigerian, Ambassador Abiodun Bashua in that crash.
“Bashua was the former UN and AU Deputy Joint Special Representative in Darfur, Sudan.
“A complete gentleman.
“May God rest his soul.”
]A source from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs also confirmed that Bashua was on board of the ill-fated flight.
The source added that Bashua was a retired Ambassador and on contract with the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs Mr Geoffrey Onyeama has condoled the families of Bashua and Adesanmi
The Airline Management said in a statement that an Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 crashed on Sunday morning en route from Addis Ababa to Nairobi with 149 passengers and eight crew believed to be on board.
“We hereby confirm that our scheduled flight ET 302 from Addis Ababa to Nairobi was involved in an accident today,” the airline said.
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