Ethiopian Airlines plane crashes en route to Nairobi, killing all 157 on board

The company issued an official statement on the matter confirming that the flight has crashed with 149 passengers and eight crew members on board.

"We hereby confirm that our scheduled flight ET 302 from Addis Ababa to Nairobi was involved in accident today", the airline stated.

The Office of the Ethiopian Prime Minister has also issued a statement on behalf of the government and the people of Ethiopia, expressing it's condolences to the families of those who have lost love ones.

"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," a tweet from Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said.

The plane, according to the company, took off at 8:38 a.m. local time (05:38 GMT) from Addis Ababa and lost contact at 08:44 a.m.

It is not yet clear what caused the accident.