A Boeing 737 Ethiopian Airlines plane crashed Sunday morning as it made its way from Ethiopia to Kenya.
The plane had 149 passengers and eight crew members. Ethiopian Airlines said that all passengers and crew members, citizens of 33 countries, were killed in the crash. In recent hours there has been concern that some of the passengers were Israelis.
The reason for the plane crash is probably a malfunction that took place at takeoff. The plane, which disappeared from radars two minutes after takeoff, went into use only 4 months ago.
The airline said that the plane crashed in the town of Debre-Zeit, about 50 km south of the capital, Addis Ababa, shortly after take-off at 8:38 am local time.
Search and rescue forces were sent to the area of the crash.
The Ethiopian Prime Minister's Office said, "On behalf of the Ethiopian government and people, we extend our deepest condolences to the families of those who lost their lives this morning."
Israel's Foreign Ministry said the consuls at the Israeli embassies in Addis Ababa and Nairobi are now checking whether Israeli citizens were on the flight.
The Foreign Ministry's Situation Room was opened for emergency readiness, but the ministry clarified that at this stage there is no concrete information and that it is waiting for the list of passengers on the plane.