Canada-based Nigerian professor Pius Adesanmi dies in plane crash

The flight carrying 157 people - 149 passengers and 8 crew members - to the Kenyan capital Nairobi crashed shortly after takeoff.

The Boeing 737 plane took off from Addis Ababa at 8:38 AM local time, and crashed shortly after at 8:44 AM.

The office of the Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed released a statement on Twitter saying:

“The Office of the PM, on behalf of the Government and people of Ethiopia, would like to express its deepest condolences to the families of those that have lost their loved ones on Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 on regular scheduled flight to Nairobi, Kenya this morning.”

A really really tragic day. Rest In Peace Prof @pius_adesanmi . I was hoping against everything that this wouldn’t be true. This is a bad day. A bad day for Nigeria. A really bad one for Africa. We have lost an irreplaceable gem. Thank you for sharing yourself with us Prof. pic.twitter.com/wNA8lbFlNE

- JJ. Omojuwa (@Omojuwa) March 10, 2019

My very dear friend PROFESSOR PIUS ADESANMI was in the crashed Ethiopian Airlines plane… My God, why Pius, that prodigiously brilliant gentleman!!! Rest in Peace, a great son of Africa… pic.twitter.com/kyB2Cs8CRD

- Dele Momodu Ovation (@DeleMomodu) March 10, 2019

Folks: I just confirmed that one of our best, Pius Adesanmi died in that Ethiopian airliner that crashed. It is a sad day!

- Omoyele Sowore (@sowore) March 10, 2019

Until his death, Adesanmi was a professor of English at Carleton University, Ottawa, Canada. He was also the Director of The Institute of African Studies at the university.