Ethiopian airliner crashes near Beirut

An Ethiopian Airlines plane crashed into the Mediterranean sea shortly after taking off from Beirut international airport in the early hours of this morning. Ethiopian Airlines Flight 409, a Boeing 737-800, disappeared off the radar about five minutes after taking off, shortly after its scheduled departure time of 2:10am, during a thunderstorm and heavy rain. Witnesses reported seeing a ball of fire as the plane, which was heading for the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa, plunged into the sea. Reuters has reported that there were 82 passengers and eight crew list on the plane's manifest.