Ethiopian Airlines flight 409 crashed into the sea just five minutes after leaving the airport of the Lebanese capital Beirut early on Monday.

The Boeing 737, en route to Addis Ababa, carried 90 people when it exploded in mid-air during a heavy rainstorm. Earlier reports in local media suggesting that seven people were rescued appear to have been erroneous.

Rescue operations are still in full swing, but there is little hope any survivors will still be found. Twenty-four bodies have been recovered so far. In addition to the Lebanese army and navy and UNIFIL troops, aircraft from Cyprus, France, Britain and the United States are taking part in the search operation. Lebanese President Michel Suleiman says sabotage and terrorism have been ruled out as the cause of the crash. Ethiopian Airlines says the plane was only eight months old and had been inspected and approved one month ago.

The plane carried 83 passengers and seven crewmembers. The passengers include 54 Lebanese, 22 Ethiopians as well as an Iraqi, a French woman, and a Syrian. Among the passengers were also several people holding dual nationality, including one British-Lebanese, one Canadian-Lebanese and a Russian-Lebanese. Marla Sanchez Pietton, the wife of the French ambassador, was also on board flight 409.

Thousands of Ethiopians are employed as domestic workers in Lebanon, and Ethiopian Airlines operates a regular service between Addis Ababa and Beirut.  

Photo: An Ethiopian Airlines jet (Flickr/caribb)