The International Relations Department says the preliminary information it has received indicates that there were no South Africans on board the Ethiopian Airlines plane which crashed on Sunday morning. None of the 157 passengers and crew survived.
Passengers from more than 30 countries were on board the plane.
They include 32 Kenyans, 18 Canadians, nine Ethiopians, eight Italians, eight Chinese, eight Americans, seven Britons, seven French citizens, six Egyptians, five Dutch citizens, four Indians and four people Slovaks.
“We are in contact with Ethiopian government; we are also in contact with our operation centre in Pretoria. We can confirm that the initial report that we have received indicates that there are no South Africans. The president, as you know, has extended his condolences and we’ve offered the assistance required to the government of Kenya and the government of Ethiopia,” says Ndivhuwo Mabaya the Departments Spokesperson.
