Ethiopia: ‘We received no threat from terrorists’

Ethiopia had received no threat from terrorist groups prior to the crash Monday of the Ethiopian Airlines flight no 409 carrying 90 people just after takeoff in Beirut, a government spokesman told reporters

“We had not received any threat before from terrorist groups whatsoever,” Shimeles Kemal, state minister for communication, said.

The Ethiopian government official said the plane reportedly caught fire five minutes after takeoff.

“The cause of the accident is being investigated and the government will disclose the information as soon as the investigation is over,” he said.

Ethiopian Airlines dispatched a team of experts to Lebanon to probe the incident.

Ethiopia has been routinely threatened by the al Qaeda-linked Shabab group in neighboring Somalia.