An airplane crashed in Ethiopia with 157 people on board: no survivors

ADÍS ABEBA.- A
The plane of Ethiopian Airlines in which more than 150 people were traveling crashed today shortly after take-off
capital of
Ethiopia to Nairobi.

The news was announced by the airline, which did not provide details on the causes of the incident. In a first statement, the company said that 149 pbadengers and eight crew members were aboard the Boeing 737, which crashed six minutes after leaving Addis Ababa in the direction of the Kenyan capital.

"We confirm that our flight ET 302 from Addis Ababa to Nairobi has suffered an accident today," said Ethiopian Airlines 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. Some time later, he confirmed that there were no survivors.

The incident occurred near Bishoftu, or Debre Zeit, about 50 kilometers south of the capital, shortly after takeoff at 08:38 am, the airline said, adding that "the operations of rescue are still ongoing and there is no confirmed information about survivors or potential victims. "

For his part, a separate statement from the office of the Prime Minister of Ethiopia presented his "sincere condolences" to the families.

Ethiopian Airlines, considered Africa's best-run airline, is the largest in the continent and aims to become the gateway to the region.

The last fatal accident of an Ethiopian Airlines pbadenger plane dates back to 2010, when one of its aircraft also crashed a few minutes after taking off from Beirut. Then the 90 people who traveled on board died.

What happened today came after the promise of the Prime Minister, the reformist Abiy Ahmed, to open the airline and other sectors to foreign investment as part of 39, a major transformation of the Ethiopian economy, controlled by the government.

AP and AFP agencies