Our colleagues at the scene have seen wreckage from the crash, including what looks like a laptop and a metal bottle.

An Indian MP has shared his condolences, tweeting that he had learned of the deaths of four Indian nationals and four UN staff.

Our colleagues with the BBC's Afaan Oromoo service are at the crash site and have shared this video of the ongoing recovery operation, which also shows parts of the wreckage from the plane.

Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has visited the crash site, his office has tweeted.

Mr Abiy's office was the first to share the news of the Sunday morning crash.

Twitter users in Africa are discussing the Ethiopian Airlines crash story more than any topic, as shown by Trendsmap, a site that aggregates conversation on social media.

Image source, Trendsmap

The National Transportation Safety Board, a US-based independent agency that investigates aviation accidents, will send a team to help investigate the Ethiopian Airlines crash, a Reuters journalist reports.

Eritrea's Minister of Information has tweeted a message of condolence to the government of Ethiopia following this morning's crash.

The two countries normalised diplomatic relationships last year after a bitter border dispute that lasted more than a decade.

We are getting some pictures from the scene of the crash near the town of Bishoftu, which is 60km (37 miles) south-east of the capital, Addis Ababa.

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

The CEO of Ethiopian Airlines Tewolde Gebremariam is speaking at a press conference.

He said the captain of the crashed plane had told controllers at Bole airport that he was having difficulty and wanted to return, and that he had been given clearance.

He also said that the plane had arrived on Sunday morning from South Africa.

“[The] plane had more than three hours of ground time after coming from South Africa, it arrived with no remark and was dispatched with no remark.”

Mr Tewolde said smoke was still smouldering at the crash site when he visited.

Ethiopian Airlines is currently giving more details of the passengers who were on board ET 302 that crashed on Sunday shortly after taking off from Bole International Airpoirt in Addis Ababa.

The numbers we have so far are:

• 32 passengers were Kenyan
• 18 Canada
• 9 Ethiopian
• 8 Chinese
• 8 Italian
• 8 US
• 7 British
• 7 France
• 6 Egypt
• 5 Netherlands
• 4 UN passport
• 4 Indian
• 3 Russian
• 2 Moroccan
• 2 Israeli
• 1 Belgian
• 1 Ugandan
• 1 Yemeni
• 1 Sudanese
• 1 Togo
• 1 Mozambican
• 1 Norwegian

The BBC's Tomi Oladipo in Kenya's capital, Nairobi, is reporting that relatives of passengers on the crashed plane, who are at the airport, have not been given much official information about the crash.

Kenya's Minister of Transport James Macharia told reporters earlier that a support centre had been set up near the airport.

Kenya has also set up a hotline for those whose family and friends may have been on the flight: (+254)733666066.

The phrase “Ethiopia Airlines plane crashes killing eight Chinese passengers” is the third most read hashtag on Chinese microbloging site Sina Weibo right now.

The airline said all those on board the plane, from 33 nationalities, died in the Sunday morning crash.

Image source, Sina Weibo

A man identified as Justin has been speaking to news agency Reuters.

He says that the impression he was given when he arrived at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi was that the Ethiopian Airlines flight ET 302 had arrived safely.

Aeroplane maker Boeing has said that it is "deeply saddened" to learn of the death of all the passengers and crew on its 737 MAX airplane, that crashed six minutes after taking off from Bole International Airport in Addis Ababa.

It added:

Image source, Facebook/Ethiopian Airlines

A picture showing the site of the crash has been posted by Ethiopian Airlines.

CEO Tewolde Gebremariam, who was at the scene, "regrets to confirm that there are no survivors", the company said.

The airline said Mr Gebremariam had expressed his "profound sympathy and condolences to the families and loved ones of passengers and crew who lost their lives in this tragic accident".

News agency Reuters has been speaking to relatives of passengers that were due to arrive at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, in Kenya's capital, Nairobi.

They say they had not been given any information by airport authorities.

Robert Mutanda, who was waiting for his brother-in-law from Canada, said: "We haven't seen anyone from the airline or the airport."

He was speaking to Reuters at 13:00 local time (10.00 GMT), more than three hours after the flight was lost.

"Nobody has told us anything, we are just standing here hoping for the best."

Wendy Otieno told Reuters: "We're just waiting for my mum. We're just hoping she took a different flight or was delayed. She's not picking up her phone."

Eight Chinese nationals were on board the crashed Ethiopian Airlines flight, Chinese state media report.

Earlier, the airline said all the 149 passengers and eight crew believed to be on the flight, from 33 nationalities, died in the Sunday morning crash.

Boeing, the company that built the crashed aeroplane, said in a tweet that it was "closely monitoring the situation".

Its 737 Max-8 aircraft is relatively new to the skies, having been launched in 2016. It was added to the Ethiopian Airlines fleet in July last year.

Another plane of the same model was involved in a crash five months ago, when a Lion Air flight crashed into the sea near Indonesia with nearly 190 people on board.

The Kenyan government is "supporting" the Ethiopian authorities following the crash, the country's Transport Secretary has said.

James Wainaina Macharia said support centres had been set up near Jomo Kenyatta airport.

He also called for "highest level of privacy" for the family and friends of those feared to have been on board the flight.

Kenya has set up a hotline for those whose family and friends may have been on the flight: (+254)733666066.

Image source, AFP

Our colleague Jibat Tamirat from BBC Amharic has just spoken with a man, Bekele Gutema, who says he was near the crash site around the town of Bishoftu, which is 60km (37 miles) south-east of the capital.

He says: "The blast and the fire were so strong that we couldn’t get near it. Everything is burnt down. The firefighters arrived around 11 and the crash happened around 8. There are four helicopters at the scene now. No one will survive."