ET409 crash: Hezbollah denies its delegation missed the flight

Hezbollah denied on Wednesday a report in Al-Liwaa newspaper that a high-profile party delegation missed boarding the crashed Ethiopian airliner.

The party added that the daily based its false information on rumors about Hezbollah MP Nawwar al-Sahili’s travel plans. According to Hezbollah, the unfounded report harms the families of the victims as well as the party.

Al-Liwaa has reportedly based its hypothesis on Hezbollah’s unusual concern about the catastrophe and the fact that a Hezbollah delegation, including Hashem Safieddine and MP Nawar al-Sahili, was supposed to be on the plane.

Al-Liwaa also pointed to Hezbollah’s noteworthy presence at the funeral of one of the plane victims identified as Hassan Tajeddine in the southern town of Hinawaya.

Speculation about what happened to ET409 flight has escalated . Al-Liwaa said the crash is likely a “deliberate” attack, while al Asharq al-Awsat newspaper did not rule out “sabotage” . OTV television station which which is owned by MP Michel Aoun , a close ally of Hezbollah cited official circles as saying that the Ethiopian plane was likely hit by a rocket.

Lebanese Minister of Transportation Ghazi Aridi cautioned against blaming anyone at this stage of the investigation and said the black boxes once found will provide the answers