Somali officials and relatives have confirmed that a member of the Somali prime minister's staff was among the victims of the Ethiopian Airlines crash on Sunday.

Abdishakur Mohamed Shahaad had worked at Somali Prime Minister Hassan Ali Khaire office for the last two years. The prime minister, on twitter, offered condolences to Shahaad's family.

Shahaad was on transit in Addis Ababa airport as he was returning from abroad to Mogadishu, an official said.

Meanwhile, two Canadians who died in the air crash have been identified by relatives. The two were Amina Ibrahim Odowaa and her six year old daughter Safiya Faisal Egal from Edmonton, Canada. Both were Canadian citizens of Somali descent.

Odawaa’s brother Mohamed Hassan Ali told VOA Somali that his sister travelled from Canada Saturday and was going to Nairobi via Addis Ababa.

VOA