UN mourns after Ethiopian crash kills 21 staff
Monday March 11 2019
Delegates at the UNEP world environmental forum observe a minute's silence in memory of the victims of Ethiopian Airlines Flight ET 302 plane crash, at the United Nations complex within Gigiri in Nairobi. PHOTO | BAZ RATNER | REUTERS
Flags flew at half-staff at the United Nations on Monday after 21 UN staff were killed in an Ethiopian Airlines plane crash that Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said marked a "sad day" for the world body.
Guterres lead delegates at the opening of the annual gathering on women's rights at the General Assembly in observing a moment of silence in honour of the victims.
"A global tragedy has hit close to home - and the United Nations is united in grief," he said at the Commission on the Status of Women.
UN ambassadors opened a Security Council meeting on Afghanistan by standing in silence for the victims of Flight ET302, which crashed Sunday shortly after take-off from Addis Ababa. All 157 people on-board were killed.
Among the dead were many traveling to a UN environment conference in Nairobi.
The World Food Programme, the UN refugee agency UNHCR, the International Organization for Migration and the UN Environment agency all lost staff in the crash.