Interpol identifies all Addis victims

The International Criminal Police Organisation (Interpol) has successfully identified all victims of the Ethiopian Airline crash.

Nearly 100 Disaster Victim Identification (DVI) experts from 14 countries in Africa, America and Europe supported the work of Interpol's Incident Response Team (IRT) during its 50-day mission.

Six months after the plane crash, all victims have been successfully identified, the police association said yesterday.

Joint effort by Interpol member countries and expertise from the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) resulted in 48 victims being positively identified by their fingerprints.

Ethiopian Airlines flight ET302 from Addis Ababa bound for Nairobi crashed near the Ethiopian town of Bishoftu on March 10, 2019, killing all 157 passengers and crew members, all from 35 countries.

At the request of the Ethiopian authorities, two days after the accident, Interpol sent an IRT to assist with the operation.

“In the wake of such a tragedy, the accurate identification of the victims is of immensely importance to the families who are suffering from their loss,” said Interpol Secretary General Jürgen Stock.

Mobilising its global network of National Central Bureaus, Interpol centralised the collection of DNA materials from families of the victims to aid in the identification process. The DNA samples were sent to a specialised laboratory for analyses.

Families that lost loved ones in the crash held a vigil in Washington DC on Wednesday.

Last month, Kenyans affected by the crash sued Boeing over the crash.

They gave instructions to a consortium of Kenyan and American lawyers to demand justice for their loved ones who perished.