The jet crashed immediately after taking-off from Addis Ababa.

The flight had 149 passengers and eight crew members.

The flight ET302 was flying from Ethiopian capital to Nairobi in Kenya.

The airlines said the passengers included 32 Kenyans, 18 Canadians, eight Americans and seven British nationals.

The cause of the mishap is still not known.

In a press conference held at Ethiopian Airlines Headquarters this afternoon regarding Ethiopian Airlines plane that crashed on Sunday shortly after takeoff en route to Nairobi from Addis Ababa, Group CEO of Ethiopian Airlines who had traveled to the scene of the crash remarked,” It is too early to speculate the cause of the accident and further investigation will be carried out to find out the cause of the accident in collaboration with all stakeholders including the aircraft manufacturer Boeing, Ethiopian Civil Aviation Authority and other international entities to maintain the international standard and information will be provided once the cause is identified. Ethiopian Airlines will provide all the necessary support to the families of the victims.”

The flight said in a statement that a senior captain named Yared Getachew with a cumulative flight hour of more than 8000 and with a commendable performance was commanding the flight along with first officer Ahmed Nur Mohammod Nur who had a flight hour of 200.

149 passengers and 8 crew members were on board the flight. The victims were of 35 Nationalities.

The crashed B-737-800MAX airplane flew back to Addis from Johannesburg this morning to its yet another flight bound to Nairobi underwent a rigorous first check maintenance in Feb 4,2019, the flight said in a statement.

Ethiopian Airlines Group said it expressed its profound sorrow and deepest condolences to the families of the victims and their loved ones on the tragic plane accident.

An eyewitness at the scene told the BBC there was an intense fire as the aircraft hit the ground.

Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta condoled the loss of lives in the incident and tweeted: "We are saddened by the news of an Ethiopian Airlines passenger aircraft that is reported to have crashed 6 minutes after takeoff en route to Kenya. My prayers go to all the families and associates of those on board."

Image: Ethiopian Airlines Twitter page