Factbox: U.S. Army captain, father-to-be
among Americans in Ethiopia crash
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[March 13, 2019]
(Reuters) - A former U.S. Army
captain from Illinois, a father-to-be from California and a truck driver
from Minnesota were among at least eight Americans killed in Sunday's
crash of a Boeing 737 MAX jetliner in Ethiopia in which 157 people died.
"The U.S. citizen victims were largely people who either lived in Africa
or were there to work and contribute to the development of the
continent," a State Department spokesperson said, declining to provide
further details.
The following profiles some of the victims:
ANTOINE LEWIS
Antoine Lewis, 39, of Matteson, Illinois, a U.S. Army captain, was
married with a 15-year-old son. Stationed in Ottawa, Canada, Lewis had
gone to Ethiopia to do missionary work on a vacation. He was considering
moving to Africa when he retired from the military, his mother told
Chicago TV station WLS.
MUCAAD HUSSEIN ABDULLAH
Mucaad Hussein Abdullah, 31, of Saint Cloud, Minnesota, had been in
Morocco with his wife, whom he recently married, and was traveling to
Nairobi before planning to return to the United States, the Saint Cloud
Times reported. He had lived in Saint Cloud since 2006 and had graduated
from high school there in 2008. He was working as a truck driver, the
Minneapolis Star Tribune said.
MELVIN RIFFEL
Melvin Riffel, 30, of Redding, California, had been traveling with his
brother Bennett and his wife Brittney, who is expecting their first
child in May. His wife had already returned to California, the Record
Searchlight newspaper reported.
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A man watches debris at the scene of the Ethiopian Airlines Flight
ET 302 plane crash, near the town of Bishoftu, southeast of Addis
Ababa, Ethiopia March 12, 2019. REUTERS/Baz Ratner
BENNETT RIFFEL
Bennett Riffel, 26, was traveling with his elder brother Melvin on
their "last adventure together" before "Mel" was to become a father,
Redding Chamber of Commerce president Jake Mangas told the Record
Searchlight.
MATTHEW VECERE
Matthew Vecere, a disaster relief volunteer, environmental and civil
rights campaigner and avid surfer, was traveling to attend the
United Nations Environment Assembly in Nairobi, Kenya, according to
a statement by his mother, Donna Vecere. He grew up in Sea Isle
City, New Jersey, and lived in California, she said. Vecere worked
for IQAir, according to a tweet by the air filtering technology
company.
"Matt was a great writer and an avid surfer with a passion for
helping others," IQAir said.
(Reporting by Andrew Hay and Eric Beech; editing by Cynthia
Osterman)
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