Ethiopian Airlines has confirmed that one of its Boeing 737 planes has crashed, killing all passengers on board.

Ethiopia's flag carrier said the plane, which was destined for Nairobi in Kenya, crashed shortly after take off in the capital of Addis Ababa on Sunday.

All 149 passengers and eight crew members on board the ET302 flight have been killed.

Accident Bulletin no. 2
Issued on march 10, 2019 at 01:46 PM pic.twitter.com/KFKX6h2mxJ

— Ethiopian Airlines (@flyethiopian) March 10, 2019

Ethiopia's 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 the accident happened near Bishoftu, a town south east of Addis Ababa. The plane took off at 8.30am local time and lost contact with air traffic control at about quarter to nine.

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