Ahmed Khalid, the man who arrived late and was saved from boarding the plane that crashed in Ethiopia

For anyone who loses a plane, it would be a real headache. But for Ahmed Khalid It was a stroke of luck. Or, better said, what allowed him to stay alive. The man had to board Ethiopian Airlines flight ET302, but he arrived late and had to wait for the next plane.

"My first plane was late, so I had to wait in Addis Ababa, the next flight", he said World news.

Khalid was heading to Nairobi, the capital of Kenya, from Dubai, with connection to Addis Ababa. Fortunately, the delay of the first plane prevented him from taking a seat in the plane that crashed six minutes after takeoff.

"People asked the staff what was going on. It's thanks to cell phones that we learned that the plane crashed six minutes after takeoff. "he commented.

L & # 39; accident left a balance of 157 dead: 149 pbadengers and eight crew members. There were no survivors.

People from 33 different nationalities traveled: 32 Kenyans, 18 Canadians, nine Ethiopians, eight Italians, eight Chinese, eight Americans, seven Britons, seven French, six Egyptians, five Dutch, four Indians, four Slovaks, three Austrians, three Swedes , three Russians, two Moroccans, two Spaniards, two Poles and two Israelis.

Of the 157 victims, 19 were United Nations (UN) officials traveling to Nairobi for a summit on the environment.

"According to early indications, 19 members of UN affiliated organizations would have died," said the director of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) in a statement released in Geneva. Antonio Vitorino. "The tragedy is deeply affecting the entire family of the UN," he said.

In addition to IOM, the World Food Program (WFP), the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) and the World Bank lost employees, he added.

The Director of the World Food Program, David Beasley, which confirmed the death of seven of its staff, said: "While we are in mourning, consider that each of these WFP colleagues is willing to travel and work away from home and their loved ones to help world at best place to live. "

In a statement, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees based in Geneva, Filippo GrandiHe did not confirm the number of colleagues among the dead, but said his agency He had suffered a "great loss".

"Independent interpreters" attending a United Nations conference on the environment, scheduled for March 11 and 15 in Nairobi, were also in the air, had already declared another source, which had initially coded at least a dozen deceased members of the multilateral organization.