The BBC's Africa Business Editor is at Kenya's Jomo Kenyatta International Airport where the crashed Ethiopian Airlines flight had been due to arrive at 10:15 local time (07:15 GMT).

Its status is now listed as "cancelled".

People who fear their loved ones were on the flight are waiting for information in Nairobi.

The Ethiopian Airlines flight was scheduled to land at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in the Kenyan capital around 10:30 local time (07:30 GMT)

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

Emergency services are responding to the crash.

Fire engines have been pictured heading to the crash site near the town of Bishoftu, around an hour's drive south-east of Addis Ababa.

Image source, Reuters

Image source, @flyethiopian

Kenya Airways Chief Executive Sebastian Mikosz has tweeted his condolences to the families of those who have lost loved ones.

The Ethiopian Airlines Corporate Communications Director Asrat Begashaw says there were 33 nationalities on board, and the airline is due to hold a press conference shortly.

All 149 passengers and eight crew members believed to be on board the Ethiopian Airlines flight that crashed this morning are dead, the airline spokesperson has told Ethiopia's state broadcaster.

There were people from 33 different nationalities on board, the spokesperson added.

President Uhuru Kenyatta has tweeted condolences to the families of those on board the Ethiopian Airlines flight.

The flight lost contact six minutes after it set off at 08:38 local time (05:38). It had been expected to arrive in Kenya's capital, Nairobi, in just over two hours.

BBC World Service

Max Kingsley-Jones, group editor of online news site Flight Global, told the BBC that Ethiopian Airlines has a "great reputation" in the aviation world.

Speaking to the BBC, he said: "Ethiopian [Airlines] is really the jewel in the crown for Africa's airlines. In fact, international airlines across the world look up to Ethiopian.

"It's got a fantastic network, it's got a great reputation and it has a fleet to go with that operation.

"It operates long-haul aircraft, all the latest technology... and then on short-haul it's got [Boeing] 737s. And this is the new version which is coming in to update and enhance the existing short-haul fleet."

Ethiopian Airlines has released information on a number of helplines.

The airline said the numbers were "for family or friends of those who may have been on flight".

The plane involved in today's crash is a version of the model involved in a fatal crash in Indonesia last year which killed all 189 passengers and crew on board.

Lion Air flight JT610 - a Boeing 737 MAX - crashed into the Java Sea 12 minutes after take-off on 29 October.

Boeing says it is monitoring the situation in Ethiopia.

Flightradar24 has been tweeting more details about the crashed Ethiopian Airlines flight.

It says that it recorded that "vertical speed was unstable after take off".

The Nairobi bound flight took off at Bole International Airport in Addis Ababa at 8:38 local time (05:38 GMT) but lost contact at 8:44.

Ethiopian Airlines has a good reputation for safety.

The state-owned airline - founded by Emperor Haile Selassie in 1945 - flies to many destinations in Africa, making it a popular carrier in a continent where many airlines fly only from their home country to destinations outside Africa.

Along with South African and Kenya Airways, Ethiopian Airlines is widely-considered to be among sub-Saharan Africa's best operators.

However it has had some crashes in its history:

• In 2010, one of the company's aeroplanes crashed into the Mediterranean Sea shortly after leaving from Beirut.The incident killed 90 people on board.
• The airline's highest number fatalities came in a November 1996 crash during a hijacking. One of the aeroplane's engines stopped when the fuel ran out and although pilots attempted an emergency water landing, they hit a coral reef and 123 of the 175 people on board were killed.
• In 1988 a plane that had just taken off struck a flock of pigeons, returned towards the airport and crash-landed, killing 31 people.

A statement from Ethiopian Airlines says contact was lost with the crashed airline six minutes after take off.

At least 149 passengers and eight crew members were thought to be on the flight.

The airline says it is establishing an information centre for family and friends of those on board.

Here is the full statement.

A website that monitors airline traffic has been tweeting about the Ethiopian Airlines crash.

It says it has limited coverage of the area, but says it tracked the flight for about three minutes after take off.

The Ethiopian Airlines 737 flight from the country's capital, Addis Ababa, to Kenya's Nairobi, crashed shortly after taking off.

The crash area is believed to be in Bishoftu – about an hour's drive from the capital.

It dropped from flight radar six minutes after departure.

• An Ethiopian Airlines Boeing 737 passenger jet crashed on a flight from Addis Ababa to Nairobi.
• The flight is believed to have had 149 passengers and eight crew members on board
• A spokesman said the crash happened at 08:44 local time, six minutes after take off
• Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed sent condolences to relatives who had lost "loved ones"