A Boeing 737 sank in Ethiopia with 157 people on board

A company plane Ethiopian Airlines which was headed from the Ethiopian capital to Nairobi sit's crashed this Sunday with 157 people on boardThe country's authorities reported Sunday that did not specify the number of casualties.

"We confirm that our flight ET 302 from Addis Ababa to Nairobi suffered an accident today," Ethiopian Airlines said in a statement. "We believe that there are 149 pbadengers and eight crew members on board, but we confirm the details regarding the pbadengers who took the flight," he added.

The airline has indicated that "search and rescue operations are in progress" and that "there is no confirmed information on survivors or possible injuries".

The office of the Ethiopian Prime Minister, Aby Ahmed, expressed "Your deepest condolences to the families of those who have lost their loved ones", according to regret via Twitter.

The causes of this aircraft crash, model Boeing 737-800MAX, are unknown, with 149 pbadengers and 8 crew members, according to local media, who were on a scheduled flight to the Kenyan capital, Nairobi.

The plane took off at 08:38 (06:38 GMT) from Bole International Airport in Addis Ababa and "lost contact" six minutes later and at the altitude of the city of Bishoftu, 60 km from the capital.

With flight number ET302, the Boeing 737 was scheduled to land at Nairobi's Jomo Kenyatta International Airport at 10:25 am local time (07:25 GMT).

Ethiopian Airlines also badured that it would establish an information center and telephone line allowing parents of pbadengers to communicate.

A Boeing 737-800MAX, the same model that rushed to Ethiopia on Sunday, had an accident in October 13 minutes after taking off from Jakarta airport in Indonesia. The 189 people died on board this Lion Air flight.

While the latest Ethiopian Airlines accident occurred in 2010, another Boeing 737-800 exploded shortly after taking off from Lebanon, killing 83 pbadengers and seven crew members.

A Lebanese inquiry commission concluded at that time that the accident had been caused by human error in dealing with the speed, height and direction of the aircraft in the middle of a storm. Although the airline rejected these findings and argued that there had been an explosion in the aircraft, perhaps an engine, on the basis of witnesses who said they saw a "fireball fall" at the sea".

With information from EFE and AFP