149 killed as Ethiopian Airline Boeing crashes on way to Kenya

All 149 passengers on the Ethiopian Airlines flight to Nairobi in neighbouring Kenya died as the Boeing 737 aircraft crashed shortly after take-off from here on Sunday, the airlines said.

Flight ET302 from Addis Ababa to Nairobi was believed to have 149 passengers and eight crew members on board, as per the airline, the BBC reported.

The plane crashed around 8.44 a.m., six minutes after taking off. The cause of the accident was not known yet.

The passengers were said to be from 33 different countries.

The first confirmation of the deaths came when Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed expressed his "deepest condolences" on Twitter.

In an earlier statement, the airline said that search and rescue operations were underway near the crash site around the town of Bishoftu, 60 km from here.

"Ethiopian Airlines staff will be sent to the accident scene and will do everything possible to assist the emergency services," the statement added.

Boeing tweeted that it was "closely monitoring the situation".

Its 737 Max-8 aircraft is relatively new to the skies, having been launched in 2016. It became a part of the Ethiopian Airlines fleet in July 2018.

--IANS

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