All 157 on board killed as Ethiopian Airline Boeing crashes

Addis Ababa, March 10 (IANS) An Ethiopian Airlines jet crashed on Sunday shortly after it took-off from here, killing all 157 people on board.

The airline said 149 passengers and eight crew members were on flight ET302 from the Ethiopian capital to Nairobi in Kenya, the BBC reported.

Ethiopian Airlines CEO Tewolde Gebremariam told a press conference that passengers from more than 30 countries were on board the flight.

He said they included 32 Kenyans, 18 Canadians, nine Ethiopians, eight Italians, eight Chinese, eight Americans, seven Britons, seven French citizens, six Egyptians, five Dutch citizens, four Indians and four people from Slovakia.

Three Austrians, three Swedes, three Russians, two Moroccans, two Spaniards, two Poles and two Israelis were also on the flight.

There was also one passenger each from Belgium, Indonesia, Somalia, Norway, Serbia, Togo, Mozambique, Rwanda, Sudan, Uganda and Yemen.

The crash happened at 8:44 a.m., six minutes after the months-old Boeing 737 Max-8 took off.

It is not yet clear what caused the accident.

However, the pilot had reported difficulties and had asked to return to Addis Ababa, the airline said.

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

An eyewitness at the scene told the BBC there was an intense fire as the aircraft hit the ground.

"The blast and the fire were so strong that we couldn't get near it," he said. "Everything is burnt down. There are four helicopters at the scene now."

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.

Boeing said it was "deeply saddened" by the crash and offered to send a team to provide technical assistance.

Another plane of the same model was involved in a crash five months ago, when a Lion Air flight crashed into the sea near Indonesia with nearly 190 people on board.