Toronto´s Ethiopian community prays for plane crash victims
(The Star Fashion & Style)

Before the victims were named, the Ethiopian Airlines crash already felt personal to some Torontonians. “I took the same flight two months ago,� says Alemayehu Zenebe, the program co-ordinator at Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church of Canada Saint Mary Cathedral.It was this January, and he was travelling to see his sister in Nairobi on the same series of plane that crashed on Sunday. Zenebe had flown to Addis Ababa directly from Toronto, and was pleased to be aboard a new Boeing 737 for his connecting flight. He was relaxed as the two-hour flight began, admiring the view outside his window as the capital city of Ethiopia became smaller, and the countryside became a blur of green. Early Sunday morning, his sister called from Nairobi, to tell him that Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 — the same route he had travelled two months ago — had crashed not long after takeoff. She was OK, but her Ethiopian colleague had been on board. Another one of her friends was supposed to be on the plane, but had switched to a different time. Zenebe quickly called his head priest to arrange a memorial for the unnamed victims as the news began to spread in the rainy grey of the Toronto morning.“All of Ethiopia is in mourning of this big tragedy,� he said, standing in sock feet inside the incense-scented entrance of the church west of Dufferin Street and north of Eglinton Avenue. It was “heart pounding,� waiting for the names, he said. Many people have friends and family travelling in Ethiopia right now.“My heart froze,� says Abebech Engeda, who heard the news on the drive to church, where her husband is the head priest. “I said, ‘Oh no, not Ethiopian Airlines.’ Then they said from Addis. Oh my God.�Read more:Carleton professor among 18 Canadians killed in Ethiopian Airlines crashEighteen Canadians among 157 people killed in Ethiopian Airlines plane crashEdmonton woman and daughter killed in Ethiopian Airli ...