Egypt’s ambassador to Addis Ababa Osama Abdel-Khalek said that Ethiopian authorities, with the assistance of a specialised international team, is still working to identify the victims of Ethiopian Airlines crash that killed 157 passengers, including six Egyptians, last March.

In a statement to Al-Ahram Arabic news website, Abdel-Khalek said that completing the identification process, which involves DNA testing, may take another few weeks.

The ambassador added that the remains of the victims will be handed over to the families once the identification process is complete, and that their personal belongings will be handed over during the upcoming weeks.

On Sunday, Egypt’s foreign ministry said it is following up on the process to identify the six Egyptian nationals who died in the crash.

The identification process involves experts from Ethiopia, Interpol, and other specialised international bodies.

Last March, a Boeing 737 MAX airliner crashed minutes after take-off in Ethiopia, just few months after 189 people were killed on a Lion Air 737 MAX which plunged into the ocean off Indonesia under similar conditions.

The two crashes later led to the grounding of the Boeing 737 MAX over safety concerns.