BEIRUT: The Cabinet decided Thursday to continue recovery and search operation for missing passengers of the Ethiopian Airlines plane which crashed last month.

Ethiopian Airlines flight ET409, bound for Addis Ababa, crashed into the Mediterranean Sea on January 25 shortly after take-off from Beirut’s Rafik Hariri International Airport. All 83 passengers and seven crew are presumed dead.

Search efforts have been ongoing since the January 25 crash and so far 60 victims have been identified, according to security sources and the plane’s two black boxes have been recovered.

Information Minister Tarek Mitri told reporters after the Cabinet session that the international committee tasked with investigating the crash would hand the Cabinet a detailed report concerning the latest conclusions of the ongoing probe.

Mitri added that a comprehensive report would be issued mid next week providing full details regarding available information over the incident.

“I believe everyone gives top priority to the victims’ families feelings and inquiries as all concerned parties pursue their efforts to meet all demands and complaints with honesty and with respect to the families’ feelings,” Mitri said.

He said Premier Saad Hariri, who headed the Cabinet meeting, would receive the families of the victims in the upcoming days “to listen to their demands rather than inform them of the latest developments.”

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