Israeli rescue workers heading to Ethiopia to help identify victims of plane crash

Members of Israeli volunteer organization ZAKA are heading to Ethiopia to help identify the victims of a deadly Ethiopian Airlines plane crash on Sunday, a diplomat says.

According to Opher Dach, consul of Israel's embassy in Ethiopia, the team hopes to join the crash site on Tuesday. ZAKA volunteers regularly attend the scene of terror attacks in Israel.  

Families of those killed aboard Ethiopia Airlines flight 302 must wait at least five days to begin receiving some victims' remains, the company said on Tuesday, though the identification of others is expected to take much longer.

"The process of identifying the victims will take at least five days," Ethiopian Airlines spokesman Asrat Begashaw told reporters in Addis Ababa on Tuesday. "Families will be notified."

Due to the impact and ensuing fire, the identification of some remains could take weeks or months and may need to be done via dental records or DNA, an industry expert said.

The Boeing 737 MAX 8 plunged into a field minutes after take-off from the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa on Sunday, killing all 157 people aboard.