Carleton professor, Edmonton mother and daughter among Ethiopian Airlines dead

VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – Information is slowly coming out about the Canadian victims of Ethiopian Airlines flight 302, including a Carleton professor, a mother and daughter from Edmonton, and an accountant from the City of Calgary.

The Boeing 737 MAX 8 crashed on Sunday, just six minutes after taking off from Addis Ababa on its way to Nairobi at 8:44 a.m.. There were 157 people on board, and no survivors. Eighteen Canadians were killed.

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The airline says it has contacted the families of the victims, and will soon conduct forensic investigations to identify remains.

Victims identified:

• Derick Lwugi, City of Calgary accountant
• Amina Odowaa and daughter Safiya Faisal
• Pius Adesanmi, Carleton University professor

Victim en route to United Nations Environment Assembly

Danielle Moore (Source: Facebook)

Reports from several outlets have also identified Toronto woman Danielle Moore as among the Canadians killed in the crash.

Moore’s last Facebook update said she was en route to the United Nations Environment Assembly in Nairobi.

Brother remembers sister and young daughter

Mohamed Hassan Ali says his sister Amina Ibrahim Odowaa and her 5-year-old daughter Sofia Faisal Abdulkadir were killed in the crash.

He’s remembering his sister as ‘the glue’ that held the family together.

“Very friendly, very nice person. Had a lot of friends, lots of friends. She was always there for everyone,” he tells CityNews. “She was my mom’s favourite daughter.”

Amina Ibrahim Odowaa and her daughter Sofia Faisal Abdulkadir. (Source: Submitted)

Since he heard the news, Ali says he feels like he’s living in a dream. He’s in shock, a state of ‘disbelief.’

“I couldn’t believe she was here yesterday and then gone so fast,” he says. The whole day was more like a dream to me, honestly, than reality. I just can’t take that kind of news easily.”

Carleton professor mourned

Carleton University confirmed via Twitter on Sunday afternoon that one of the school’s professors had been on the flight.

Carleton president Benoit-Antoine Bacon said Pius Adesanmi was the Director of African Studies and a professor in the school’s English Department.

 

Adesanmi posted a picture of himself with his passport on Facebook Saturday, seemingly before boarding a flight.

The post included a Psalm: “If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me,” the post said.

WATCH: 18 Canadians killed in Ethiopian airlines crash

United Nations staff killed

Some of the passengers on the flight were United Nations staffers, according to a tweet from the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres.

The staffers may have been travelling to the United Nations Environment Assembly, scheduled to start in Nairobi on March 11. There are also other UN events happening in the area.

RELATED: Government officials, doctors among Ethiopian crash victims 

Filippo Grandi, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, released a statement saying colleagues of his had been on the flight.

“It is with great sadness and shock that I have learned today that UNHCR colleagues were among the passengers of the Ethiopian Airlines flight ET 302 which crashed in Ethiopia this morning,” the statement said.

He said colleagues from the United Nations and other partner organizations were also on board.

“We are working to confirm how many UNHCR colleagues were among those on board the tragic flight,” the statement continued. “We are following through our procedures to inform the families and assist them at this heart-breaking and painful time.”

 

Ethiopian Airlines reported 35 nationalities among the dead, with Canada’s 18 victims second only to Kenya’s 32.

Some of the Canadians on board may have been affiliated with the United Nations, something that has not yet been confirmed.

With files from Keith Doucette, Adam Burns, Allison Jones, The Associated Press and the Canadian Press