Ethiopian Airline crash: 6 members of Surat-origin family were going to Nairobi on personal tour

The six members of a Canada-based family of Gujarat origin, who were killed in Ethiopian Airline crash on Sunday, were travelling to Nairobi on a personal tour, according to their family members.

Prerit Dixit (40), along with his wife Kosha (37) and daughters Ashka (16) and Anushka (13), were on board the Ethiopian Airlines plane.

Dixit, originally from Surat, settled in Canada along with his wife around 17 years ago post their marriage.

Pannagesh Vaidya (71) and Hansini Vaidya (64), who were Kosha's parents, also joined them later on in Canada and lived there. All the six of them were travelling to Kenya and were visiting Kosha's birthplace.

"All of them were staying in Canada. They were going to Nairobi on a personal tour. The Ministry of External Affairs has assured full support to us. They have said that the Indian Embassy in Kenya will also support. They have assured that their bodies will be brought back as soon as possible," Kosha's maternal uncle Markesh Mehta told ANI here.

In total, 157 people, including at least 22 affiliated to the UN, were killed in the Ethiopian Airline crash.

All 157 people on board, belonging to 35 different nationalities, lost their lives after a Boeing 737 MAX 8 jet of the Ethiopian Airlines crashed a few minutes after taking off from the Bole International Airport on Sunday.