4-Year-Old Boy, Grandparents Survive Illinois Plane Crash

A firefighter checks the inside of a small single engine plane that crashed on March 12, 2019. (Colter Peterson/St. Louis Post-Dispatch via AP)

WATERLOO, Ill.—Authorities say a 4-year-old boy and his grandparents were rescued after their small plane crashed in southern Illinois.

The fixed-wing single-engine Piper PA-32 was traveling from Mobile, Alabama, when it went down Tuesday in rural Monroe County on its way to St. Louis Downtown Airport in Cahokia, Illinois.

The plane crashed into the yard of Waterloo police officer Trin Daws. He says he and another man broke the plane’s windows with a fire extinguisher and pulled the boy out.

Sheriff’s Maj. Jim Lansing says the boy, his grandmother and his grandfather were talking when they were taken to hospitals. He says they suffered injuries that weren’t life-threatening.

Lansing says the grandmother told authorities a warning light went on, oil was spewing onto the windshield and they couldn’t see.

A Look at the Canadian Victims of the Ethiopian Airlines Plane Crash

Details are emerging about the 18 Canadian victims of an Ethiopian Airlines plane crash in Addis Ababa, that left 157 people dead.

Here is what we know so far:

Pius Adesanmi:

Adesanmi was a Nigerian-born professor in the Department of English Language and Literature and the Institute of African Studies at Carleton University.

He was a “towering figure in African and post-colonial scholarship,” said the school’s president, Benoit-Antoine Bacon.

Adesanmi was the winner of the inaugural Penguin Prize for African non-fiction writing in 2010.

Mitchell Dick, a Carleton student who is finishing up a communications honors degree, said he took a first and second year African literature course with Adesanmi.

Dick said Adesanmi was “extremely nice and approachable,” and stood out for his passion for the subject matter.

Amina Ibrahim Odowaa and her daughter Sofia Faisal Abdulkadir:

The 33-year-old Edmonton woman and her five-year-old daughter were travelling to Kenya to visit with relatives.

Her brother, Mohamed Hassan Ali, of Toronto, said he had planned to travel with them but had to cancel last week.

“She was a very nice person, very outgoing, very friendly. Had a lot of friends,” he said.

A family friend said Odowaa has lived in Edmonton since 2006.

Derick Lwugi:

An accountant with the City of Calgary, Lwugi was on his way to Kenya to visit both his and his wife’s parents, who live in the west of the country.

“His mom was not feeling well,” Lwugi’s wife, Gladys Kivia, said in a brief interview from Calgary.

The couple have three children, aged 17, 19 and 20, all of whom live at home.

The family has lived in Calgary for 12 years.

Danielle Moore:

Media reports indicate the 24-year-old, who lived in Winnipeg, was among the victims.

She posted on Facebook on Saturday morning that she would be travelling to Nairobi, Kenya, for the United Nations Environment Assembly.

“Over the next week I'll have the opportunity to discuss global environmental issues, share stories, and connect with other youth and leaders from all over the world,” she wrote.

“I feel beyond privileged to be receiving this opportunity.”

The Canadian Press contributed to this report.