Plane en route Kenya crashes with 157 passengers

An Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 passenger plane en route Nairobi, Kenya capital city, has crashed earlier today.

The aircraft which took off from Addis Ababa, was said to have 149 passengers and eight crew members on board.

The crash occurred at 08.44 local time in Bishoftu,  shortly after take-off from the Ethiopian capital.

The airline confirmed the incident in a statement. It, however, said it could not confirm if there are casualties.

Local media says there are no survivors after Ethiopian Airlines flight to Nairobi went down

According to the statement, search and rescue operations are underway near the crash site.

“Ethiopian Airlines regrets to confirm that its flight ET 302/10 March in schedule service from Addis Ababa to Nairobi was involved in an accident today around Bishoftu (Debre Zeit),” the statement read.

“The aircraft B-737-800MAX with registration number ET-AVJ took off at 08:38 am local time from Addis Ababa, Bole lnternational Airport and lost contact at 08:44am.

“At this time search and rescue operations are in progress and we have no confirmed information about survivors or any possible causalities. Ethiopian Airlines staff will be sent to the accident scene and will do everything possible  to assist the emergency.”

The Boeing aircraft was reportedly new and had been delivered to the airline just four months ago.

“There are no survivors onboard the flight, which carried passengers from 33 countries,” said the state-run Ethiopian Broadcasting Corporation, which quoted an unidentified source at the airline.

Flight ET 302 crashed near the town of Bishoftu, 39 miles (62km) south-east of the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa, the airline said, adding that the aircraft was a Boeing 737-800 MAX, registration number ET-AVJ.

That model number does not exist, however, and multiple aviation websites later identified it as a new 737 MAX 8, the same plane that crashed in Indonesia in October, killing 189.