Ethiopian Airlines said it will work with Boeing, the national civil aviation authority and international experts in trying to unravel what caused the brand new plane to come down just six minutes into its flight.

Eight crew and 149 passengers from 35 countries perished when Flight ET 302 ploughed into a field near Tulu Fara village outside the town of Bishoftu, some 60 kilometres southeast of Addis Ababa.

A witness told AFP Sunday the plane came down in flames.

Among the dead were tourists, business travellers, and UN staff, including some who worked for the World Food Programme, the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) and the International Organization for Migration.

The IOM said in a statement early indications were that 19 staff members of UN-affiliated organisations perished in the crash.

Many were headed for an annual assembly of the UN Environment Programme, which opens in Nairobi on Monday with some 4,700 heads of state, ministers, business leaders, senior UN officials and civil society representatives.

No South Africans were reportedly on the flight.

eNCA