'No survivors' in Ethiopia plane crash

All 149 passengers and eight crew members on board an Ethiopian Airlines jet that crashed six minutes after take-off have died.

The flight had departed from Addis Ababa at 8:38 am (local time) on Sunday and lost contact at 8:44 am.

"There are no survivors onboard the flight, which carried passengers from 33 countries," said state-run Ethiopian Broadcasting Corporation, quoting a source from the airline.

It is unclear what caused the accident.

On Twitter, the prime minister's office sent condolences to the families of those lost in the crash.

Accident Bulletin no. 1
Issued on march 10, 2019 at 11:00am
Ethiopian Airlines will release further information as soon as it is available. Updated information will also be on Ethiopian Airlines website at https://t.co/Je7pXoKxHh pic.twitter.com/07wKZHPVPl

— Ethiopian Airlines (@flyethiopian) March 10, 2019