Father of plane crash victim dies in Lebanon from grief

Jan 29, 2010

Beirut - The father of a Lebanese national who was among those killed in the Ethiopian plane crash, died Friday from a heart attack caused by his grief, Lebanese media reported Friday.

According to the reports, Jirji Assal was admitted to Bitar hospital in Batroun, north of Beirut, after suffering a heart attack, but later died. His son Albert Assal was one of the passengers on the plane, but his body had not yet been recovered.

Doctors said that the man has suffered a heart attack after he spent the last few days crying and not sleeping waiting news about his son.

Of the 90 passengers on board the Ethiopian airliner which crashed into the sea early Monday shortly after takeoff, 54 were Lebanese nationals.

Meanwhile, rescue teams on Friday continued search for victims and the black boxes of the Ethiopian plane. Search teams managed on Thursday to detect signals from the flight data recorder.

Transport Minister Ghazi Aridi told the German News Agency dpa Friday, 'nothing so far but we are hopeful that the coming days will bring positive results.'

A rescue team member who requested anonymity told dpa, 'we believe that the black boxes are still attached to the plane, so if we find them we will find the main body of the plane and more bodies.'

Rescue officials have said a number of the victims may still be strapped to their seats underwater.

At the crash site dozens of schoolchildren Friday were throwing white roses into the sea, in the hope that the coming days will bring comfort to the victims families.

The stricken Ethiopian plane bound for Addis Ababa was carrying many Lebanese who work in African countries like Liberia and Angola and Ethiopian nationals who work in Lebanon as domestic helpers.

Source: Monsters and Critics.
Link: http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/middleeast/news/article_1529552.php/Father-of-plane-crash-victim-dies-in-Lebanon-from-grief.