Ethiopian Airlines employees are fleeing the country by hiding in the planes they work on

By Gianluca Mezzofiore and Katie Polglase, CNN

Updated 12:05 AM ET, Mon January 31, 2022

(CNN)Yohannes and Gebremeskel knew it would be freezing cold inside the bulk cargo area of the Airbus A350 plane on the long flight from Ethiopia's capital to Belgium.

But the two ground technicians with Ethiopian Airlines, both of Tigrayan origin, said they felt a threat from the Ethiopian authorities that left them no choice but to stow away among crates of fresh flowers.

Both men said family members had been detained under sweeping