The aircraft, carrying 83 passengers and seven crew, crashed into the sea four minutes after taking off from Beirut's international airport, Transport Minister Ghazi Aridi said.
Ethiopian plane from Lebanon crashes, 90 on board
Lebanese army and rescue units were carrying out the search for survivors alongside a force from UN Maritime Task Force, which include two German boats.
The aircraft carried 54 Lebanese nationals, 22 Ethiopians, as well as Iraqi, Syrian, British,and French nationals, the minister said. One of the passengers is believed to be the wife of the French ambassador in Beirut.
Lebanon's President Michel Suleiman described the incident as 'painful'. Suleiman put all medical and security forces on maximum alert.
Image: Map locates Beirut, Lebanon, where a plane heading to Ethiopia took off, went off radar and likely crashed into the Mediterranean Sea.
Text: IANSImages: AP
