An Ethiopian Airlines flight en route to Nairobi, Kenya, crashed near the country's capital moments after takeoff on Sunday morning, according to a statement from the airline.

Within six minutes of taking off from Bole International Airport in Ethiopia's capital of Addis Ababa, the Boeing 737 lost contact due to what many believe to be technical difficulties, CNN reports. All 157 people on board the flight are reportedly dead. 

Ethiopian Airline CEO Tewolde GebreMariam told reporters in a press conference that the pilot mentioned the technical issues before takeoff. At the time of the crash, the plane was attempting a return to the capital.  

"As it is a fresh incident, we have not been able to determine the cause," GebreMariam said. "As I said, it is a brand new airplane with no technical remarks, flown by a senior pilot and there is no cause that we can attribute at this time."

"The routine maintenance check didn't reveal any problems," he added.

According to the airline, 32 Kenyans, 18 Canadians, nine Ethiopians, eight passengers each from the United States, China and Italy and seven passengers each from France and Britain were among the deceased.

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The New York Times reports the cause of the crash has yet to be identified, but the outlet notes the model of the plane, the Boeing 737, was the same model involved in an Indonesian Lion Air flight crash in October. There were reportedly 189 dead in that fatal incident. Reports claim the plane’s automatic controls may have forced it into a nosedive.

Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed went to the crash site to pay respects to the fallen and console grieving families. In a tweet from his office, the PM sent his deepest condolences to the affected families.

Aviation expert, CNN's Richard Quest, praised the airline for being one of the best on the African continent. He said investigators might be looking into whether the plane had engine failure during the flight.  

"I think [Ethiopian Airlines] are going to be looking at whether there was an engine failure," CNN's Quest said. "The plane is climbing out at a normal fashion, but there are mountains in the area, and longstanding pilots are well aware that if you have an issue departing Addis on that particular route, you've got a mountain in front of you."

In the meantime, Boeing is prepared to offer "technical assistance at the request and under the direction of the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board."

The last time Ethiopian Airlines had a fatal crash of this magnitude, it was nine years ago, January 2010. A Boeing 737 crash landed in Beirut, Lebanon, killing all 90 people on board.

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