Photo taken on March 11, 2019 shows the crash site of an Ethiopian Airlines plane near Bishoftu town, about 45 km from the capital Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The Nairobi-bound Boeing 737-8 MAX crashed on Sunday, just minutes from takeoff from Addis Ababa Bole International Airport, killing all 157 people aboard. Earlier on Monday, Ethiopian Airlines announced its decision to suspend commercial operations of all Boeing 737-Max 8 aircraft. (Xinhua/Michael Tewelde)

Ethiopian Airlines has grounded its Boeing 737 MAX 8 fleet on Sunday after a crash of the same type that killed 157 people.

"Following the Tragic accident of ET 302/10 ... Ethiopian Airlines has decided to ground all B-737-8 MAX fleet effective yesterday March 10, 2019, until further notice," said the carrier on its Twitter account.

"Although we don't yet know the cause of the accident, we had to decide to ground the particular fleet as extra safety precaution," it added.

Flight ET 302 scheduled from Addis Ababa to Nairobi crashed on Sunday morning only six minutes after taking off, killing all 157 people on board.

China's aviation regulator on Monday morning has also ordered Chinese airlines to suspend their Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft operations by 6pm (1000 GMT).