Earlier on Sunday, the office of Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed reported the Ethiopian Airlines plane crash without giving details.
“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,” the PM tweeted.
However, in a statement, the airline said it believed that 157 people were on board.
“It is believed that there were 149 passengers and eight crew on board but we are currently confirming the details of the passenger manifest for the flight,” it said.
It was believed full details could not be revealed because search and rescue operations had been launched and that its officials were also checking for information on survivors and casualties.
The airline also said it would set up an information center and provide a phone number for family and friends.
“Staff will be sent to the accident scene and will do everything possible to assist the emergency services,” the statement said.
Ethiopian Airlines identified the flight number as ET 302/10 and said the crash took place around Bishoftu, formerly known as Debre-Zeit.
The plane’s other identification details were given as B-737-800MAX, registration ET-AVJ.
The aircraft left Bole International Airport in the Ethiopian capital at 8.38am local time and lost contact six minutes later.
The Boeing 737-800MAX is the same type of plane as the Indonesian Lion Air jet that crashed last October, 13 minutes after takeoff from Jakarta, killing all 189 people on board.