Tel-Chai Nation

A plane crash has tragically taken place, and being as it was circa Lebanon, one has to wonder if terror was the cause:

BEIRUT (AP) - An Ethiopian Airlines plane carrying 90 people caught fire and crashed into the sea minutes after taking off from Beirut early Monday, setting off a frantic search as passenger seats, baby sandals and other debris washed ashore.

No survivors had been found by nightfall, and Health Minister Mohammed Jawad Khalife told reporters that emergency workers had recovered 21 bodies.

The cause of the crash was not immediately known. Lebanon has seen stormy weather since Sunday night, with crackling thunder, lightning and rain.

"We saw fire falling down from the sky into the sea," said Khaled Naser, a gas station attendant who saw the plane go down around 2:30 a.m., crashing into the frigid waters of the Mediterranean that had reached just 64 degrees (18 degrees Celsius) by Monday afternoon.

The Lebanese army said in a statement the plane was on fire shortly after takeoff.

Lebanese President Michel Suleiman said terrorism was not suspected in the crash of Flight 409, which was headed for the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa.

"Sabotage is ruled out as of now," he said.

Just how do we know they're not trying to cover anything up?

The wife of Denis Pietton, the French ambassador to Lebanon, was on the plane, according to the French embassy.

Keep her in your prayers.

Labels: Africa, France, Lebanon, terrorism