Calgary man among 18 Canadians lost in Ethiopian Airlines crash
An Ethiopian Airline flight from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia to Nairobi, Kenya crashed on Sunday morning, killing all 157 passengers crew members who were onboard.
Among the dead were 18 Canadians, including Derick Lwugi, an accountant who had been working for the City of Calgary, according to Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi.
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“Absolutely crushed to learn that one of my @cityofcalgary colleagues, wonderful community leader Derick Lwugi, was amongst those killed in the plane crash this morning in Ethiopia,” Nenshi wrote in a tweet on Sunday evening.
“All our love to his family, friends, colleagues, and all those touched by his life of service.”
Absolutely crushed to learn that one of my @cityofcalgary colleagues, wonderful community leader Derick Lwugi, was amongst those killed in the plane crash this morning in Ethiopia. All our love to his family, friends, colleagues, and all those touched by his life of service.
— Naheed Nenshi (@nenshi) March 11, 2019
Lwugi had begun working for the City of Calgary last November, according to the most recent update on his Facebook page, having moved to Canada in 2004.
He had also been a member of the Abeingo Association of Canada, and had formed the Kenyan Community in Calgary back in 2008, serving as president until 2012.
Two other Albertans were aboard the fatal flight on Sunday.
According to reports, 33-year-old Amina Ibrahim Odawa of Edmonton was killed alongside her five-year-old daughter, Sofia Abdulkadir.
Alberta Premier Rachel Notley offered her condolences to the friends and families of the victims in a Sunday tweet.
We’ve now learned that Amina Ibrahim Odowa of Edmonton and her five-year-old daughter Sofia Abdulkadir were among the victims of the crash.
My heart breaks for the two little girls they leave behind and my deepest condolences go out to their whole family. https://t.co/h4KCcW8bwD— Rachel Notley (@RachelNotley) March 10, 2019
The flight had been piloted by a senior captain and had been transporting passengers of 35 different nationalities, according to an initial report from Ethiopian Airlines.
Accident Bulletin no. 3
Issued on March 10, 2019 at 4:59 PM pic.twitter.com/5UOxsbl24f— Ethiopian Airlines (@flyethiopian) March 10, 2019
The plane, a B-737-800MAX, had flown from Johannesburg to Addis earlier that morning and had undergone a “rigorous first check maintenance” on February 4, 2019.
Communication between the airport and the plane was lost just six minutes after takeoff, though the cause of the crash remains unknown.
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