By Celestine Osemeilu, Editor
An Ethiopian Airlines jet crashed on Sunday shortly after take-off from Addis Ababa to Kenya, killing all on board.
The airline said 149 passengers and eight crew members were on flight ET302 from the Ethiopian capital to Nairobi in Kenya.
Two Nigerians, 32 Kenyans, 18 Canadians, eight Americans and seven British nationals were among the passengers stated by the airline.
Meanwhile, President Muhammadu Buhari has condoled the death of the two Nigerians Ambassador Abiodun Bashua and Professor Pius Adesanmi involved in the crash.
The crash happened at 08:44 local time, six minutes after the months-old Boeing 737 Max-8 took off.
Another plane of the same model was involved in a crash less than five months ago, when a Lion Air flight crashed into the sea near Indonesia with nearly 190 people on board.
The cause of the disaster is not yet clear. However, the pilot had reported difficulties and had asked to return to Addis Ababa, the airline said.
An eyewitness at the scene told the BBC there was an intense fire as the aircraft hit the ground.
“The blast and the fire were so strong that we couldn’t get near it,” he said. “Everything is burnt down.”
