Friends, family members, and colleagues of the 18 Canadians killed in Sunday’s Ethiopian Airlines crash are sharing their grief and their memories.
The Canadians are among 157 people from 35 countries who died when the Boeing 737 Max 8 crashed shortly after taking off from the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa bound for Nairobi.
Among them are:
Pius Adesanmi
Pius Adesanmi was a professor at Carleton University. (Facebook )
Pius Adesanmi, the Nigeria-born director of Carleton University’s Institute of African Studies, was also a professor at the Ottawa school.
“Pius was a towering figure in African and post-colonial scholarship and his sudden loss is a tragedy,” said Benoit-Antoine Bacon, Carleton’s president and vice-chancellor. Adesanmi was the winner of the inaugural Penguin Prize for African non-fiction writing in 2010.
Amina Ibrahim Odowa and Sofia Abdulkadir
Amina Ibrahim Odowa, 33, of Edmonton, and her daughter Sofia Abdulkadir, 5, died in the crash. (Submitted by Mohamed Ali)
Edmonton resident Amina Ibrahim Odowa, 33, and her daughter Sofia Abdulkadir, 5, were also killed, a family member confirmed to CBC News.
Odowa leaves behind two daughters, ages seven and three.
Kosha Vaidya and Prerit Dixit; Anushka and Ashka Dixit; Hansini and Pannagesh Vaidya
Ashka Dixit, left, Prerit Dixit, Kosha Vaidya, and Anushka Dixit died in the plane crash Sunday, along with the girls’ grandparents. (Pramesh Nandi/Facebook )
The Peel District School Board says two of its students, Anushka, 13, and Ashka Dixit, 14, were among the dead, along with their parents, Kosha Vaidya, 37, and her husband Prerit Dixit, 45, and grandparents, PannageshVaidya, 73, and his wife, Hansini Vaidya, 67.
Brampton Mayor Patrick Brown confirmed the six were among the 18 Canadians killed, calling it “an unbelievably tragic situation for the family.”
Derick Lwugi
Derick Lwugi, 53, an accountant from Calgary and community volunteer, also died in the crash. (Facebook via Canadian Press)
Derick Lwugi, an accountant from Calgary, also died, a family friend told CBC News.
Lwugi, 53, who volunteered as an assistant pastor, sat on the board of the non-profit Abeingo Association Canada and founded the Kenyan Community in Calgary group.
Absolutely crushed to learn that one of my @cityofcalgary colleagues, wonderful community leader Derick Lwugi, was amongst those killed in the plane crash this morning in Ethiopia. All our love to his family, friends, colleagues, and all those touched by his life of service.
Danielle Moore
Danielle Moore, who grew up in Toronto but was living in Winnipeg, was on her way to a UN environment conference in Nairobi. (Submitted by Ryan Oliver)
Danielle Moore, 24, who grew up in Toronto and worked in Winnipeg at the charity Canada Learning Code, was also killed. She was described by family and friends as an activist who raised her voice for Indigenous rights, climate change, food security and the Manitoba Energy Justice Coalition.
Moore was among a group headed to a United Nations Environment Assembly.
Micah Messent
Micah Messent of Vancouver Island was also en route to the UN conference. (Micah Messent/Facebook)
Friends of another young environmentalist, Micah Messent from Vancouver Island, are mourning his death. CBC News spoke to his family, who acknowledged the reports, but said they did not want to comment.
Messent was heading to the same UN conference, which he posted about on his Instagram the day before the crash.
Angela Rehhorn
Angela Rehhorn was part of the United Nations Association of Canada’s delegation to the UN Assembly in Nairobi, representing the Canada Service Corps Program. (Canadian Wildlife Federation)
The Canadian Wildlife Federation posted on its Facebook page that CWF Canadian Conservation Corps participant Angela Rehhorn was on the plane when it crashed. She was also heading to the UN conference.
“Being selected to attend this UN Assembly is a testament to the tremendous contributions and value Angela and her fellow CCC cohorts bring to the future of conservation,” said Rick Bates, CWF CEO in the post. “Angela shared the excitement and optimism of volunteering and working to improve our world. Her life is an inspiration to us all.”
Peter deMarsh
Peter deMarsh, of Taymouth, N.B., was chair of the International Family Forestry Alliance and of the Canadian Federation of Woodlot Owners. (Family Forest Nepal Facebook page)
Peter deMarsh of Taymouth, N.B., was also killed.
“Our circle was broken today with the sudden tragic loss of my beloved brother Peter on the Ethiopian Airlines crash this morning,” his sister, Helen deMarsh, wrote on Facebook. “He was profoundly dear to me, I looked up to him and I will miss him every day for the rest of my life. Just days ago he met me at the airport with the biggest hug and warmest welcome.”
He was chair of the International Family Forestry Alliance and of the Canadian Federation of Woodlot Owners. The Kenya Forest Service said in a Facebook post that deMarsh was en route to Nairobi to attend a workshop on “access to international climate finance for small holder farmers.”
Jessica Hyba
Jessica Hyba was a communications officer for the United Nations High Commission for Refugees. (Facebook)
A spokesperson for the UN High Commission for Refugees said Canadian-born Jessica Hyba joined the organization in Iraq in 2013 and had also worked at the organization’s headquarters in Geneva. She had recently been appointed senior external relations officer based in Mogadishu and was “eager to get back to the field and working with refugees again,” Joung-ah Ghedini-Williams said. “Prior to UNHCR, Jessica had a long and distinguished service with Care Canada, Care International and UNICEF.”
Hyba, 43, leaves behind two daughters, aged nine and 12.
Darcy Belanger
Darcy Belanger was a co-founder of Parvati.org, a non-profit dedicated to a healthy planet. (Roka Studios/Parvati.org)
Parvati.org confirmed that one of its founding members and director of strategic initiatives, Darcy Belanger, was one of the Canadians who died in the crash.
The non-profit organization, which describes itself as being dedicated to healthy planet, called Belanger “a hero in every sense of the word,” in a post dedicated to his memory on their website. It said he “was passionately devoted to the protection of all life through the realization of MAPS, the Marine Arctic Peace Sanctuary,” and that he “literally gave it his life.”
He, too, was heading to the UN Environment Assembly.
Prime minister reacts
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau sent condolences via Twitter to the families. The government also provided a phone number for Canadians in Ethiopia to call for consular assistance.
Canadians join people around the world in mourning the loss of so many lives today. Our hearts are breaking for the families and friends of the 18 Canadians who were killed. Please read my full statement on the tragic plane crash in Ethiopia: https://t.co/FG3wVmu5m8
The other Canadians who died in the crash have yet to be identified.
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