An Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 passenger plane jet has crashed with 149 passengers and 8 crew members on board on its way to Nairobi, Kenya.
The airline authorities indicated that a rescue team has been dispatched although there were no survivors found.
“All 149 passengers and eight crew members believed to be on board the Ethiopian Airlines flight that crashed this morning are dead, the airline spokesperson has told Ethiopia’s state broadcaster.
There were people from 33 different nationalities on board, the spokesperson added.
A spokesman earlier said the crash happened at 08.44 local time on Sunday, shortly after take-off from the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa.
Prime Minsiter Abiy Ahmed took to Twitter on Sunday morning to express his deepest condolences.
In a 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, reported BBC.
However, no details of causalities have been provided.
“Ethiopian Airlines staff will be sent to the accident scene and will do everything possible to assist the emergency services,” the statement added.
The airline flies to many destinations in Africa, making it a popular carrier in a continent where many airlines fly only from their home country to destinations outside Africa.
It has a good reputation for safety, although in 2010 one of the company’s aeroplanes crashed in the Mediterranean Sea shortly after leaving Beirut.
The incident killed 90 people on board.
The airline’s highest fatalities to date came in a November 1996 crash during a hijacking on a flight from Addis Ababa to Nairobi.
One of the aeroplane’s engines stopped when the fuel ran out and although pilots attempted an emergency water landing, they hit a coral reef in the Indian Ocean and 123 of the 175 people on board were killed.
Additional reporting by BBC