Four Swedes were on the Ethiopian plane that crashed.
All on board perished, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirms.
All 157 passengers died in Sunday's plane crash in Ethiopia. On Sunday evening, the Swedish Foreign Ministry stated that four Swedes were among the dead.
The crash occurred just minutes after the Ethiopian Airlines plane took off from the capital Addis Ababa.
An AFP reporter said a large crater was visible at the crash site, with debris and other objects scattered widely. A Reuters reporter said the wreckage was badly burned.
On board were 149 passengers with passports from over 30 countries and eight crew members.
At 8:44 a.m., six minutes after takeoff, air traffic controllers lost contact with the plane. The plane was en route from Addis Ababa to Nairobi, Kenya. The crash occurred near the town of Bishoftu, about 60 kilometers southeast of the capital.
According to the airline's CEO, Tewolde Gebremariam, the plane, which was delivered by American Boeing last year, had no known technical problems, and the pilot had good ratings. In the few minutes the plane was in the air, the pilot managed to report problems and request permission to turn around, the CEO said.
The US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NTSB) has sent a team of experts to assist in the investigation of the crash.
Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed's official Twitter account expressed condolences to the passengers' relatives.
”"The Prime Minister's Office, on behalf of the government and the Ethiopian people, would like to express its deep condolences to the families who lost their loved ones on Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 on a scheduled flight bound for Nairobi this morning," the post reads.
The Ethiopian parliament has declared Monday a national day of mourning following the disaster, Abiy Ahmed also writes.
The aircraft is the same type as the Indonesian Lion Air plane that crashed in October, 13 minutes after takeoff from Jakarta, killing all 189 people on board.
Aircraft manufacturer Boeing says it is "deeply saddened" by the news of the accident and is offering assistance in the accident investigation.
”"We send our deepest sympathies to the families and loved ones of the passengers and crew and stand ready to assist Ethiopian Airlines personnel," Boeing wrote.
Source: TT
