Black Boxes Yet to be Retrieved…Hope of Finding More Bodies

Local Editor, 29-1-2010

Information Minister Tarek Mitri said that the black boxes of crashed Ethiopian Airlines Flight 409 were transmitting signals 14 kilometers off the coast of Lebanon, following a meeting between Prime Minister Saad Hariri and officials involved in the probe.

However, the exact location of the devices is yet to be pinpointed.

According to Mitri, the boxes are in a seven-kilometer area at a depth of 1,000 to 1,500 meters.

He said the US vessel, USS Ramage, picked up the signals on Wednesday night, after which the Lebanese air force confirmed it.

Mitri added the British vessel, Ocean Alert, is conducting comprehensive scans to find the exact location of the black boxes. A submarine will be dispatched to the site to take pictures once they are located, he said.

The interior minister said the black boxes will help search teams locate other crash victims as well as reveal why the plane plunged into the sea.

Investigations will continue with the participation of Lebanese, Ethiopian and US experts until results are reached, he added.

Mitri also said eight bodies out of the 14 recovered have been identified, adding a delegation of forensic experts will travel to Ethiopia Friday to collect DNA samples from relatives of the crash victims.

As for Health Minister Mohammad Jawad Khalifeh, he told As-Safir newspaper in an interview published on Friday that some of the remains found during the search operations for victims of the Ethiopian airliner that crashed on Monday morning are not human.
Latest bodies of victims identified and delivered this morning to their families were Ali Ahmad Jaber and Annas Abed. Both will be buried Friday afternoon.

The Ethiopian airliner carrying 83 passengers and 7 crew members had crashed into the Lebanese waters after exploding in the air according to witnesses.