Ethiopian Airlines flight to Nairobi carrying 157 involved in fatal crash
Credit to Author: jespinosa| Date: Sun, 10 Mar 2019 09:00:22 +0000
ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia — The Ethiopian prime minister’s office says an Ethiopian Airlines plane has crashed on its way to Nairobi, with deaths reported.
Ethiopian Airlines says it believes 149 passengers and eight crew members were on board a plane that crashed six minutes after taking off from Ethiopia’s capital, Addis Ababa, on a flight to Nairobi.
A statement from the airline on Sunday morning said the Boeing 737 crashed around Bishoftu, or Debre Zeit, some 50 kilometers (31 miles) south of the capital, shortly after taking off at 8:38 a.m. local time.
The airline statement said “search and rescue operations are in progress and we have no confirmed information about survivors or any possible casualties.”
The state-owned Ethiopian Airlines calls itself Africa’s largest carrier and has ambitions of becoming the gateway to the continent.