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A United Nations staff member mourns during a wreath-laying ceremony at the UN headquarters in New York, on March 15, 2019. A white wreath was laid at the northwest corner of the visitors' lobby in the United Nations New York headquarters on Friday to commemorate the UN staff members who lost their lives in the Ethiopian Airlines plane crash. (Xinhua/Li Muzi)

by Xinhua writer Lin Yuan

UNITED NATIONS, March 15 (Xinhua) -- A white wreath was laid at the northwest corner of the visitors' lobby in the United Nations New York headquarters on Friday to commemorate the UN staff members who lost their lives in the Ethiopian Airlines plane crash.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres asked all participants of the short wreath-laying ceremony to observe a minute of silence for those that "we shall never forget."

"We send our deepest condolences and heartfelt wishes to their families and loved ones during this extremely difficult time," said the UN chief.

The tragedy occurred on Sunday, when a Boeing 737 Max 8 aircraft of Ethiopian Airlines crashed shortly after taking off from Addis Ababa, killing all 157 people on board, including 21 UN personnel.

Guterres said that the deceased staff members were a mirror of the UN and represented the best of the organization. They were "doing their part in solidarity with all of us to build a better world, brick by brick, deed by deed, day in and day out," he said.

Following the secretary-general's remarks, people came one after another to put down their flower bouquets in front of the wreath.

Zhao Weiyang, a Yale University graduate who is currently an intern of the office for intergovernmental support and coordination for sustainable development at the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs, came to pay her tribute to the Chinese victims aboard the flight.

She told Xinhua that many of the Chinese victims used to serve environment industries, and they have contributed tremendously to the global environment protection.

"They were good people, I have heard many stories of them from my friends before, so I came here on behalf of my office to send our condolences," said Zhao.

"The crash caused massive loss, and it is also an alert, we hope relevant parties will pay more attention on safety when it comes to air travel," she added.

According to the Chinese foreign ministry, eight Chinese nationals, including one from Hong Kong, were confirmed aboard the crashed Ethiopian Airlines plane.

As the UN authority confirmed to Xinhua, one of the Chinese victims worked for the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), while another worked for the World Food Programme (WFP).

Apart from the UN staff members, many of the victims are also partners of the UN who were traveling to Nairobi for the UN Environment Assembly, scheduled on March 11-15.

Stephane Dujarric, the spokesperson for the UN secretary-general, said on a Friday briefing that the UN fully recognizes and shares the pain of all partners. "It was the kind of a flight where I think anyone who works in the UN community would walk on and and see a familiar face," he said.

The UN has also halted flying its personnel on Boeing 737 Max 8, as all major countries in the world grounded the aircraft of the same model.