Beirut, Jan 25 (Inditop.com) An Ethiopian airliner carrying 92 passengers and crew crashed into the sea shortly after taking off from Beirut airport early Monday, an airport official said.
The official told DPA there were several Lebanese among the passengers, but said they preferred to wait to give exact numbers.
The official said the Ethiopian Airlines plane was struck by lightning before it fell into the sea.
The Boeing aircraft was en route to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, when it disappeared from radar shortly after take-off from Rafik Hariri International Airport in Beirut, the state-run Lebanese National News Agency (NNA) reported.
The plane crashed between Khaldeh and Saadiyat area about 15 km south of Beirut, the official said.
