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Guest Thinkers — January 25, 2010

Plane Crash

Fourteen bodies have been recovered after an Ethiopian plane carrying 90 passengers crashed into the sea shortly after taking off from Beirut in stormy weather this morning.

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Fourteen bodies have been recovered after an Ethiopian plane carrying 90 passengers crashed into the sea shortly after taking off from Beirut in stormy weather this morning. “The Boeing (BA.N) 737-800, heading for Addis Ababa, disappeared off the radar some five minutes after taking off at 2:37 a.m. (0037 GMT) during a thunder storm and heavy rain. Lebanese President Michel Suleiman said he did not think the plane had been brought down deliberately. ‘As of now, a sabotage act is unlikely. The investigation will uncover the cause,’ Suleiman told a news conference. Fourteen bodies have so far been recovered near the crash site three-and-a-half km (two miles) west of the coastal village of Na’ameh. Eighty-three passengers and seven crew were on the flight, Transport Minister Ghazi al-Aridi said at the airport. Ethiopian Airlines CEO Girma Wake said he had spoken with Lebanese authorities who did not confirm there were survivors.”

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