32 Kenyans died in Ethiopian Airlines jet crash

A total of 32 Kenyans and nine Ethiopians were among those killed in the Sunday morning Ethiopian Airlines plane crash.

 Transport CS James Macharia said there were people from at least five countries in the jet, with Kenya being the most affected.

 Others are 18 Canadians, eight Chinese, eight Italians, eight Americans, seven French, seven British, six Egyptians, five Dutch, four people with UN passports, four Indians and three Russians.

There were also two Moroccans, two Israelis, one Belgian, one Ugandan, one Yemeni, one Sudanese, one Togolese, one Mozambican and one Norwegian.

 Ethiopian Airlines published a photo of its CEO standing amid wreckage of the plane.

 It was captioned, “Tewolde Gebremariam, who is at the accident scene now, regrets to confirm that there are no survivors. He expresses his profound sympathy and condolences to the families and loved ones of passengers and crew who lost their lives in this tragic accident.”

 The airline earlier on said that all the 149 passengers and eight member crew had perished in the crash.

 The jet, B-737-800MAX which was Nairobi-bound, crashed six minutes after takeoff from Bola International Airport.

 The Airlines Corporate Communications Director Asrat Begashaw said there were 33 nationalities on board.

 The plane is said to have just been purchased 4 months ago.

 "The aircraft B-737-800MAX with registration number ET-AVJ, took off at 8.38am local time from Addis Ababa, Bole International Airport, and lost contact at 8.44am," the airline said in a statement.

 So far President Uhuru Kenyatta has offered his condolence message, saying, "We are saddened by the news of an Ethiopian Airlines passenger aircraft that is reported to have crashed 6 minutes after takeoff en route to Kenya. My prayers go to all the families and associates of those on board."

 Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed also sent condolences to the affected families.

 Deputy President William Ruto said, "Saddened by news of an incident involving an Ethiopian Airlines scheduled flight to Nairobi this morning with 149 passengers and 8 crew. Our thoughts and prayers are with the families whose loved ones were on board."

 AU Envoy Raila Odinga said, "My deeply felt condolences to the people of Ethiopia."