By Sultan bin Bandar

Okaz/Saudi Gazette

JEDDAH — The body of Saad Khalaf Al-Mutairi, who is believed to be among the victims of Sunday’s airplane crash in Ethiopia was not yet found, Saudi Ambassador in Addis Ababa Abdullah Al-Arjani has said.

“The body was not yet found or recognized but the Ethiopian authorities asked the relatives of other victims to wait for five days at least to receive the remains,” he said.

On Sunday, 157 passengers and crew members of a 737 MAX operated by Ethiopian Airlines were killed shortly after the Nairobi-bound flight took off from Addis Ababa.

According to the ambassador, Al-Mutairi, 36, was working in the recruitment sector and was heading to Nairobi to recruit manpower.

The ambassador said the authorities had not yet asked the relatives of Mutairi to come to Addis Ababa to recognize and receive his body but his brother and uncle already arrived in the city.

Arjani said the Ethiopian authorities were busy transporting the bodies from the scene of the crash to the morgue.

He said no Saudi investigators had arrived in Ethiopia to investigate the crash, in which a Saudi citizen is believed to have died. Six Americans arrived in Ethiopia to join the investigations, he added.

The ambassador said the embassy had informed all the concerned parties about the crash as soon as it happened.

A friend of Mutairi, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said he and the victim agreed to meet at Riyadh airport to travel to Addis Ababa together.

“I had no idea fate would be faster than me and he would die before our planned meeting,” he said.

The unidentified friend said as soon as he came to know about the crash, he started calling Mutairi on his mobile phone, which was switched off.

“After four hours of calling Mutairi on his mobile phone, I contacted the Saudi Embassy to ascertain the news about the crash and the death of my friend,” he said.

The friend said the embassy confirmed Mutairi was on the plane after reviewing his boarding pass and watching the film showing the passengers boarding the plane.

Mutairi’s brother and uncle said they were receiving all kinds of support from the embassy and their main concern was to identify the body and take it to Riyadh for burial.

Mutairi’s relatives, on the other hand, said some of his brothers would travel to Qassim to bring their father to Riyadh and inform him about the death of his son.

They said the father, who lives in Qassim, had no idea his son had died in the air crash.

Apart from having his own labor recruitment office, Al-Mutairi was an X-ray technician at King Saud Medical City in Riyadh. He was married with children.

“Saad al-Mutairi was known for his high morals and was a friend to everyone he worked with. He also served patients without discrimination,” Sahaj Al-Otaibi, a radiologist who worked with Al-Mutairi, told Al-Arabiya news channel.

Meanwhile, a source at the General Authority of Civil Aviation (GACA) said no Boeing 737 Max was registered with the authority.