Ethiopian Airlines crash: Kenya govt sets up 2 emergency centers at JKIA

Ethiopian Airlines crash: Kenya govt sets up 2 emergency centers at JKIA

The Kenyan government has set up two emergency centers to facilitate communication with friends and relatives of passengers who were on the Ethiopian Airlines flight to Nairobi that crashed on Sunday.

Addressing the press at the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA), Transport Cabinet Secretary James Macharia said the centers had been established at Terminal 1-D and Four Points by Sheraton hotel within the airport.

“The purpose of these centers is to provide the relatives, who we call meeters and greeters, with information as much as we have and, at the same time, to provide them with an environment of privacy because until we know what has happened there will be a lot of anxiety,” said CS Macharia.

The CS also stated that they are still waiting for the plane’s manifest from Ethiopian Airlines and the Ethiopian government so as to establish the nationalities and genders of the 149 passengers and 8 crew members who were on the flight.

Kenya Airports Authority (KAA) Managing Director Jonny Andersen, speaking during the presser, asked relatives and friends of the passengers to contact emergency number 0733 666 066 for more information on the crash.

The aircraft B-737-800MAX with registration number ET-AVJ took off at 08:38am local time from Addis Ababa, Bole International Airport and lost contact at 08:44am.

The plane, which was expected to arrive at the JKIA in Nairobi at around 10:15am, crashed at Bishoftu in Ethiopia.

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jkia Ethiopian Airlines CS James Macharia plane crash

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