Ethiopian Airlines Extension of DNA Release to 6 Months deals the breaved families a Blow

Kins to the victims of the Ethiopian plane crash will have to wait longer in order to verify the DNA of those who perished.

This is according to a statement released by the airline on Saturday, March 16 announcing that the process will take at least six months to be completed.

The statement further revealed that the death certificates of all those who perished would be sent to respective addresses in the next two weeks.

“Personal belongings of the deceased will be returned to the NOK’s (Next of Kin) after proper verification approximately within two months,” read the statement.

Debris at the scene of the plane crash in Ethiopia

The kin to the deceased were, therefore, advised to give their DNA samples at a hotel in Ethiopia or through Ethiopian Airlines Group (ETG) offices closest to them.

This came shortly after the bereaved family and friends expressed dissatisfaction in how the airline was handling the case.

On March 14, the bereaved held protests in Ethiopia due to the lack of clarity of DNA analysis by the authorities.

Some stated they didn’t get answers following the meetings they held with the Ethiopian Airlines authorities.

“They called us to give us a report on bodies and the reasons for the crash but there was no information,” one of the victims stated.

On Tuesday March 12, Ethiopian Airlines spokesman, Asrat Begashaw, noted that due to the impact and ensuing fire, the identification of some remains could take weeks or months and may need to be done via dental records or DNA.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *