All 157 passengers and eight crew on board an Ethiopian Airlines jet that crashed on Sunday morning have been confirmed dead.
The jet, which was Nairobi-bound, crashed six minutes after take off.
The Ethiopian Airlines Corporate Communications Director Asrat Begashaw said there were 33 nationalities on board, and the airline is due to hold a press conference shortly.
Among them, 32 Kenyans, 17 Ethiopians, 18 Canadians, 8 Chinese nationals have been confirmed to be among the 157 killed in Ethiopia Airlines crash.
The Boeing 737 passenger jet, which was new, is said to have had 149 passengers with eight crew on board.
The airline, in a statement, said the plane left Addis Ababa before the accident at Bishoftu.
“The aircraft B-737-800MAX with registration number ET-AVJ, took off at 8.38am local time from Addis Ababa, Bole International Airport, and lost contact at 8.44am,” the airline said in a statement.
“At this time, search and rescue operations are in progress and we have no confirmed information about survivors or any possible casualties.”