UN Mourns After Ethiopian Crash Kills 21 Staff

Flags flew at half-staff at the United Nations on Monday after 21 UN staff were killed in an Ethiopian Airlines plane crash that Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said marked a "sad day" for the world body.

Guterres lead delegates at the opening of the annual gathering on women's rights at the General Assembly in observing a moment of silence in honor of the victims.

"A global tragedy has hit close to home — and the United Nations is united in grief," he said at the Commission on the Status of Women.

UN ambassadors opened a Security Council meeting on Afghanistan by standing in silence for the victims of Flight ET302, which crashed Sunday shortly after takeoff from Addis Ababa. All 157 people onboard were killed.

A moment of silence was held for victims of the Ethiopia Airline crash before the start of a UN environment meeting in Nairobi. By Yasuyoshi CHIBA (AFP)

Among the dead were many traveling to a UN environment conference in Nairobi.

The World Food Programme, the UN refugee agency UNHCR, the International Organization for Migration and the UN Environment agency all lost staff in the crash.