Ethiopian Airlines: No survivors among 157 on board

All 157 people on board Boeing 737 killed in plane crash en route to Nairobi, Ethiopian Airlines says.

None of the 157 people on board an Ethiopian Airlines flight that crashed on Sunday morning en route from Addis Ababa to Nairobi have survived, the airline said.

Ethiopian Airlines Group CEO Tewolde GebreMariam “deeply regrets the fatal accident,” the airline said on its Twitter account.

The group CEO, who had travelled to the scene of the crash, expressed his “profound sympathy and condolences” to the families of all victims, the statement read.

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The tweet by Ethiopian Airlines was accompanied by a picture of GebreMariam lifting what appeared to be a piece debris at the bottom of a large crater in an empty field.

Little of the plane can be seen in the freshly churned earth.

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Thirty-three nationalities were on board flight ET 302, which crashed near the town of Bishoftu, about 50km southeast of the Ethiopian capital, Ethiopia’s state broadcaster reported.

Thirty-two Kenyans, 18 Canadians, nine Ethiopians, eight Chinese, eight Americans, and seven British citizens are among the dead, according to Ethiopian Airlines. Four of the victims held United Nations passports.

The plane took off at 8:38am (06:38 GMT) from Bole International Airport and “lost contact” six minutes later near Bishoftu.

Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed’s office tweeted it “would like to express its 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.”

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Kenya’s President Uhuru Kenyatta offered prayers for the family members and loved-ones of those on the plane.

We are saddened by the news of an Ethiopian Airlines passenger aircraft that is reported to have crashed 6 minutes after takeoff en route to Kenya. My prayers go to all the families and associates of those on board,” Kenyatta said in Twitter.

Ethiopian Airlines said it would send staff to the accident scene to “do everything possible to assist the emergency services”.

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