There were no survivors among the 149 passengers and eight crew on board a Nairobi-bound Boeing 737 that crashed shortly after takeoff from Addis Ababa, Ethiopian Airlines said Sunday.
“The group CEO who is at the accident scene right now regrets to confirm that there are no survivors,” the company said in a statement confirming the death toll.
Earlier, Ethiopian Airlines had said 149 passengers and eight crew were believed to be on the plane.
People with passports from 32 countries and the United Nations were on the Nairobi-bound Boeing 737.
Kenya had the largest number of casualties with 32, followed by Canada with 18, Ethiopia with nine, then Italy, China, and the United States with eight each, CEO Tewolde GebreMariam told reporters in Addis Ababa. Britain and France each had seven people on board, Egypt six, the Netherlands five, and India four. Four were UN passport-holders.
The pilot had alerted controllers “he had difficulties” and wanted to turn back the plane, the head of Ethiopian Airlines said.
The pilot “was given clearance” to return to Addis, chief executive officer Tewolde GebreMariam told journalists in the Ethiopian capital when asked whether there had been a distress call.