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Black boxes from crashed Ethiopian jet found

Lebanon - Search teams working to recover crash debris
Lebanon - Search teams working to recover crash debris

Searchers have located the black boxes of an Ethiopian Airlines plane that crashed in the sea off the coast of Lebanon last month, killing 90 people.

The boxes were found under the rear part of the fuselage, which was located this morning, Lebanese Transport Minister Ghazi Aridi said.

Lebanese army divers are retrieving the black boxes.

Earlier today, a search vessel found the rear sections of the aircraft's cabin between 10m and 12m-long at a depth of 45m, 12km south of Beirut.

The Boeing 737-800 went down before dawn on 25 January, just minutes after take-off during stormy weather from Beirut airport. It was bound for Addis Ababa with 83 passengers and seven crew on board.

No survivors were found from Flight 409, and only 15 bodies have so far been recovered.

Transport Minister Ghazi Aridi said he hoped other sections of the plane would soon be found, along with the bodies of the remaining victims, who are believed to be still strapped to their seats.

Of the 15 bodies found, nine were Lebanese, five Ethiopian and one Iraqi. 54 Lebanese were on board the aircraft.

Lebanese officials have said the captain was instructed by the control tower to change to a certain heading, but that the aircraft then took a different course.

The plane apparently made a sharp turn before disappearing off the radar.

Experts have said that the stormy weather may not have been the only reason for the crash, and that the aircraft may have had engine or hydraulics problems.

The eight-year-old plane last underwent a maintenance check on 25 December and no technical problems were found.