BEIRUT: The judicial committee tasked with following up on the Ethiopian Airlines plane crash held its first meeting on Monday while DNA tests revealed the identities of more victims.

The committee convened for the first time at the Justice Ministry and discussed the legal and humanitarian aspect of the disaster. The meeting was presided over by Justice Minister Ibrahim Najjar.

The 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.

“This committee was formed according to a decision by the Lebanese government and it collaborates with the Interior Ministry and the Foreign Affairs Ministry,” said Najjar.

He added that the committee included aeronautics experts, insurance experts and magistrates and would handle the legal and humanitarian consequences of the crash.

Its members included head of the Beirut Bar Association Amal Haddad, caretaker president of the Legislation and Consultation Committee Antoine Breidy, Lebanon’s representative at the International Civil Aviation Organization Suleiman Eid, Judge Raymond Farhat, head of the Beirut First Instance Court for Personal Status Affairs Habib Rizkallah, head of the Appeals Chamber of Commerce Georges Harb, expert in aeronautics and former president of the Lebanese Pilot Association Abdel-Monem Hoteit, and State Prosecutor Saeed Mirza. The latter was unable to attend as  he was out of the country.

Najjar then explained that the team of experts and judges would help in investigations and in determining who to hold responsible for the crash. The committee would also decide whether Lebanese laws were sufficient to declare the death of the missing victims and if tighter ones needed to be passed.

Meanwhile the bodies of seven victims were identified by DNA tests at the Rafik Hariri University Hospital, raising the number of identified victims to 50. The seven identified bodies belonged to Antoine Toufic Hayek, Elias Antonios Rafeh, Rawan Hassan Wazneh, Hussein Moussa Barakat, Hassan Kamal Ibrahim, Hussein Ali Farhat and Bassem Kassem Khazaal.

The body of an Ethiopian victim was also recovered and identified on Sunday, according to security sources. It was the first to be found almost intact after the few days following the crash. The male victim was identified by a family member and by a tattoo on his chest.

The sources added that DNA samples have also been taken from the body for further confirmation. However, they underlined that DNA tests have proven to be more difficult than before and that 24 hours might be needed to reach results  while only six were needed in the few days that followed the crash.

Meanwhile, Lebanon handed over the bodies of two victims to their families: Afif Krasht, who held a British passport and Ahmed Hazer.

Media reports have said that the bodies of Lebanese victims were not being handed over before the families paid whatever fines and penalties the deceased owed. These reports were neither confirmed nor denied by authorities.

As for search efforts, the sources said the vessel Odyssey Explorer reached the port of Beirut and has been waiting for approval from Public Works and Transportation Minister Ghazi Aridi. The vessel is to replace  Ocean Alert, which is currently still in service. The transfer of information from one vessel to the other would only take a few minutes, the sources added. – With additional reporting by Nafez Qawas