DAKAR, SENEGAL, March 11, 2019 – Catholic Relief Services (CRS) issued the following statement in response to the Ethiopian Airlines crash that killed all 157 people on board while en route from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia to Nairobi, Kenya on Sunday, March 10: 

“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.

Getnet 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.”

Catholic Relief Services is the official international humanitarian agency of the Catholic community in the United States. The agency alleviates suffering and provides assistance to people in need in more than 100 countries, without regard to race, religion or nationality. CRS’ relief and development work is accomplished through programs of emergency response, HIV, health, agriculture, education, microfinance and peacebuilding.  For more information, visit www.crs.org or www.crsespanol.org and follow Catholic Relief Services on social media in English at Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube; and in Spanish at: Facebook, Twitterand Instagram.

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