Ethiopian airlines plane crash to Nairobi leaves no survivors

The airline has confirmed that all passengers on board the Ethiopian Airlines jet that crashed shortly after take-off on Sunday have perished.

The plane is believed to have been carrying 149 passengers and eight crew members from Addis Ababa to Nairobi in Kenya.

The airline added that there were 33 different nationalities on board. The crash happened at 08.44 local time, six minutes after the flight took-off from the Ethiopian capital.

It is not yet clear what caused the accident.

First word of the crash came when Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed expressed his “deepest condolences” on Twitter.

The Office of the PM, on behalf of the Government and people of Ethiopia, would like to express it’s deepest condolences to the families of those that have lost their loved ones on Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 on regular scheduled flight to Nairobi, Kenya this morning.

— Office of the Prime Minister – Ethiopia (@PMEthiopia) March 10, 2019

In an earlier statement, the airline said that search and rescue operations were under way near the crash site around the town of Bishoftu, which is 60km (37 miles) south-east of the capital.

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

Boeing, the company that built the aeroplane, said in a tweet that it was “closely monitoring the situation”.

Its 737 Max-8 aircraft is relatively new to the skies, having been launched in 2016. It was added to the Ethiopian Airlines fleet in July last year.