It is with great sadness that Médecins Sans Frontières learned of the death of two of its volunteers in the airline crash which occurred in Nigeria on Saturday, December 10.

Hawah Kamara, 49, and Thomas Lamy, 30, were two of the passengers who perished in the crash. In total, 103 people died. They had left the Nigerian capital, Abuja, to go to Port Harcourt in southern Nigeria, where MSF has a surgical programme.

Hawah was born in Liberia and lived in the United States. She started working with MSF in Liberia in the early 1990's before joining the Human Resources Department in MSF's New York office in 1999 to recruit volunteers for the field. She had left New York a few days ago to carry out a field visit in Nigeria to work with international and national staff.

Thomas was born and lived in France. He joined MSF three years ago as a logistician and had volunteered for projects in Liberia, Ivory Coast, and Sudan. Last August, Thomas went to Nigeria to work in the nutritional emergency in the state of Katsina, northern Nigeria. Later, he moved to Abuja to be the logistics coordinator for MSF projects throughout Nigeria.

The brutal loss of Hawah and Thomas has left all of MSF deeply saddened. Our profoundest thoughts and condolences go to the families and friends of our two beloved colleagues.