UN Secretary-General António Guterres has sent his condolences to the friends and families of the 157 people who died in Sunday's plane crash.
Guterres in a statement expressed his “heartfelt sympathies and solidarity to the victims’ families".
“Deeply saddened by the news this morning of the plane crash in Ethiopia, claiming the lives of all on board. My heartfelt condolences to the families and loved ones of all the victims — including our own @UN staff — who perished in this tragedy,” the UN boss said.
The UN Department of Safety and Security in Kenya, confirmed that 19 UN staff died in the crash.
The World Food Programme (WFP) lost seven staff while the Office of the High Commissioner on Refugees (UNHCR) lost two, as did the International Telecommunications Union (ITU).
The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), International Organization for Migration (IOM) in Sudan, World Bank and UN Assistance Mission in Somalia (UNSOM) lost one staff each. Six staff from the UN Office in Nairobi (UNON) also killed.
The UN said it was in contact with the Ethiopian authorities and working closely with them to establish the details of personnel who died. The disaster happened on the eve of the UN Environment Assembly convening this week. A number of the crash victims were heading to Nairobi for the meeting.
Officials from the UN and various international organisations took to the social media to express their condolences to families of the 159 people who died in the crash with flags flying at half-mast at UN offices.
