Pain as Catholic Church Loses four members in the ill fated Ethiopian Air Crash

Four employees of Catholic Relief Services were killed when an Ethiopian Airlines jet departing from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia en route to Nairobi Kenya crashed Sunday, the agency confirmed.

Headquartered in Baltimore, Catholic Relief Services is the official international humanitarian agency of the United States’ Catholic community, the agency said. The group works to fight suffering around the globe and provides assistance to those in need in more than 100 countries.

The agency released a statement Monday morning, identifying the four employees who died in the aviation accident and providing some biographical details about their work with the relief agency:

It is with heavy hearts that we share the news that four members of our staff were killed when Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 crashed just after take-off Sunday morning. Their names are: Sara Chalachew, Getnet Alemayehu, Sintayehu Aymeku, and Mulusew Alemu. All four individuals were Ethiopian nationals traveling to Nairobi to attend a training on our behalf. Sintayehu served CRS/Ethiopia from January 1, 2017 to January 15, 2018 as Senior Procurement Officer in the Administration Department. Since January 16, 2019 he served as a Procurement Manager in Supplies Chain Department. He is survived by his wife and his three daughters. Sara served CRS/Ethiopia since January 18, 2010 as Commodity Accountant, Senior Commodity Accounts Officer in Logistics department and since December 1, 2018, she served as Senior Project Officer for Grants. Mulusew served CRS/Ethiopia since May 18, 2015, as Finance Officer, Project Grant Accountant and Senior Finance Officer in the Finance Department. Getenet served CRS/Ethiopia from August 10, 2009 to November 30, 2018 as Procurement Officer, Senior Procurement Officer in the Administration Department. Since December 1, 2018, he served as Senior Project Officer, Procurement & Compliance. He is survived by his wife and his one daughter. Although we are in mourning, we celebrate the lives of these colleagues and the selfless contributions they made to our mission, despite the risks and sacrifices that humanitarian work can often entail. Our thoughts and prayers are with their families and all of those who lost loved ones as a result of this tragedy.