Beirut: Plane Crashes into the Mediterranean, 90 Feared Dead

The unifil maritime task force

An Ethiopian Airlines passenger plane with about 80 travelers and 10 crew members went down into the Mediterranean Sea shortly after take off from Beirut airport en route for Addis Ababa in a strong storm.

At the request of the Lebanese authorities, the maritime task force of the UN Interim Force in Lebanon dispatched two ships to the crash site as well as two helicopters.

The maritime fleet has been deployed since 2006 in the wake of that year’s war between Israel and Hizbollah, and is tasked with helping the navy secure its territorial waters and prevent the unauthorized entry of arms or related material by sea into Lebanon.


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Ethiopia, in the Horn of Africa, is a rugged, landlocked country split by the Great Rift Valley. With archaeological finds dating back more than 3 million years, it’s a place of ancient culture. Among its important sites are Lalibela with its rock-cut Christian churches from the 12th–13th centuries. Aksum is the ruins of an ancient city with obelisks, tombs, castles and Our Lady Mary of Zion church.

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Israel, a Middle Eastern country on the Mediterranean Sea, is regarded by Jews, Christians and Muslims as the biblical Holy Land. Its most sacred sites are in Jerusalem. Within its Old City, the Temple Mount complex includes the Dome of the Rock shrine, the historic Western Wall, Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Israel’s financial hub, Tel Aviv, is known for its Bauhaus architecture and beaches. 

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Lebanon, officially known as the Lebanese Republic, is a country in the Levant region of Western Asia, and the transcontinental region of the Middle East.

The official language, Arabic, is the most common language spoken by the citizens of Lebanon. Its capital is Beirut.

Lebanon was a founding member of the United Nations in 1945 and is a member of the Arab League (1945), the Non-Aligned Movement (1961), Organisation of the Islamic Cooperation (1969), and the Organisation internationale de la francophonie (1973).

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The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the east by the Levant.

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