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UPDATE: Lebanese website buckling under pressure of #ET409 traffic – Government websites included.
UPDATE: President – this does not appear to be a terrorism incident
UPDATE: President – we will not call off rescue before 48 hours
UPDATE: President and Defense Minister press conference! photo link
UPDATE: List of passengers in Arabic w/ dates of birth http://is.gd/6YPc9
UPDATE: Fares, al-Qazan, Issawi, Ismail, Hawilla, Tajeddine, Barakat, al-Laqiss, Madani, Akoush, Asal, al-Basha, al-Farran, al-Haj, al-Haraki, Farhat, Hajal, Qarnakout, Misto, Jaber, Qassarji, al-Hayek and two from Zahra family.
UPDATE: children in flight roster 🙁
UPDATE: 2 casualties located (unconfirmed)
UPDATE: no survivors / casualties located as of yet
UPDATE: #ET409 was at 2500 meter altitude
UPDATE: #ET409 Real-Time updates #Firehose #ET409 Firehose
UPDATE: weather forecast not looking good Weather Forecast
UPDATE: the VIP Lounge at the Beirut International Airport is open to all families of passengers on #ET409
UPDATE: UN & Lebanese Army helicopters & naval vessels participating in rescue effort
UPDATE: 7 survivors reportedly found by Lebanese Army
UPDATE: Crash location, off the coast of Damour (Lebanon) between Saida and Beirut (1.5 KM from the coast)
An Ethiopian Airlines passenger plane with 92 people on board has crashed into the Mediterranean Sea shortly after take-off from Beirut airport.
Eyewitnesses say they saw a ball of fire in the sky before the jet, which was was bound for the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa, crashed into the sea.
Wreckage from the plane has reportedly been seen off the Lebanese coast.
About 50 of the passengers on board were said to be Lebanese nationals, and most of the rest were Ethiopian.
The plane, believed to be a Boeing 737, is said to have disappeared from radar screens some five minutes after take-off in stormy weather at about 0200 local time.
The BBC’s Natalia Antelava, in Beirut, reports that the Lebanese transport minister and other officials say a rescue operation is now under way, but it is not clear if there are any survivors.
Thousands of Ethiopians are employed as domestic helpers in Lebanon.
Ethiopian Airlines operates a regular flight between Addis Ababa from Beirut.
(source BBC NEWS)
tags: #ET409 , Lebanon, Beirut, Ethiopian Airlines, crash, air disaster, airline, January 2010, Lebanese Army, rescue, takeoff