90 feared dead after airplane crashes into sea

AN Ethiopian Airlines plane carrying 90 people caught fire and crashed into the sea minutes after taking off from Beirut early yesterday, setting off a frantic search as passenger seats, baby sandals and other debris washed ashore.

At least 34 bodies were recovered, but no survivors were found by nightfall.

The cause of the crash was not immediately known. Lebanon has seen stormy weather since Sunday, with thunder, lightning and rain.

“We saw fire falling down from the sky into the sea,” said Khaled Naser, a petrol station attendant who saw the plane go down at about 2.30am, crashing into the Mediterranean Sea that had reached 18ºC by Monday afternoon.

Lebanese President Michel Suleiman said terrorism was not suspected in the crash of Flight 409.

“Sabotage is ruled out as of now,” he said.

Relatives streamed into Beirut’s airport to wait for news on their loved ones. One woman dropped to her knees in tears; another cried out, “Where is my son?”

Andree Qusayfi said his brother, Ziad, 35, was travelling to Ethiopia for his job at a computer company, but was planning to return to Lebanon for good soon.

“We begged him to postpone his flight because of the storm,” Qusayfi said, his eyes red from crying. “But he insisted on going because he had work appointments.”

Zeinab Seklawi said her son Yasser, 24 called her as he was boarding.

“I told him, ‘God be with you,’ and I went to sleep,” Seklawi said. “Please find my son. I know he’s alive and wouldn’t leave me.”

Those feared dead include several children, according to a defence official.

Pieces of the plane and debris were washing ashore after the crash, including passenger seats, a baby sandal, a fire extinguisher, suitcases and medicine.

The wife of Denis Pietton, the French ambassador to Lebanon, was on the plane, according to the French embassy.

Helicopters and naval ships were scrambled for a rescue effort.

Col Dave Lapan, a Pentagon spokesman, said the US military has deployed a guided-missile destroyer, the USS-Ramage, as well as a P-3 surveillance aircraft to help with search and rescue efforts.

At the Rafik Hariri Government Hospital, Red Cross workers brought in bodies on stretchers covered by wool blankets.

Ethiopian Airlines’ chief executive Girma Wake said the aircraft had been serviced on December 25 and passed inspection.

He also said the plane had been leased in September from New York-based CIT Aerospace. A CIT spokesman declined to comment and referred questions to Ethiopian Airlines.