Former Kenya Football Federation secretary general Hussein Swaleh was among those killed in an Ethiopian Airlines crash ©FKF

Former Football Kenya Federation (FKF) secretary general Hussein Swaleh was among those killed after being aboard the Ethiopian Airlines plane that crashed this morning on its way from Addis Ababa to Nairobi.

Swaleh was returning from a Confederation of African Football (CAF) Champions League match in Cairo on Friday (March 8) where Egyptian side Ismailia had played the Democratic Republic of Congo's TP Mazembe. 

Swaleh was the match commissioner.

FKF President Nick Mwendwa confirmed the news in a tweet this afternoon.

"Sad day for football," he wrote.

"You were doing what you loved most. 

"Fare thee well my chairman. 

"Until we meet again."

According to a statement, all 157 people on board died.

Ethiopian Airlines added that there were 33 different nationalities on board, including 32 Kenyans. 

The crash happened at 8.44am local time, six minutes after the flight took-off from the Ethiopian capital.

It is not yet clear what caused the accident.

Ethiopian Airlines identified the flight number as ET 302/10 and revealed the crash took place around Bishoftu, formerly known as Debre-Zeit.

The plane's other identification details were given as B-737-800MAX, registration ET-AVJ.

The aircraft left Bole International Airport in the Ethiopian capital at 8.38am local time and lost contact six minutes later.

The Boeing 737-800MAX is the same type of plane as the Indonesian Lion Air jet that crashed last October, 13 minutes after take-off from Jakarta, killing all 189 people on board.