Kenya Airways plane with 115 people on board crashes: Official

It took off from Douala at 5 minutes past midnight, local time and was due to arrive in the morning.

The Kenya Airways Managing Director told a news conference that the company had set up a crisis centre to monitor events and a passenger information centre at a local hotel.

The plane was carrying 106 passengers and nine crew.

Earlier, Kenya Airways has lost contact with a commercial airliner carrying more than 100 passengers that took off from Cameroon early in the day.

"The last message was received in Douala after takeoff and thereafter the tower was unable to contact the plane," Kenya Airways CEO Titus Naikuni said.

The 737-800 was carrying 106 passengers, eight crew members and a flight engineer, he said.

The flight departed from Douala and was to arrive in Nairobi. The flight originated in Ivory Coast but stopped in Cameroon to pick up more passengers, the airline said. - DDNews India