(NECN/ABC) - There's a developing story off Beirut, Lebanon, where crews are searching the sea after an Ethiopian Airlines jet crashed after takeoff. Ninety people were on-board. In the early hours of the morning Lebanese military forces battled rough seas looking for plane crash victims. 83 passengers and 7 crew were on board the American-made 7-37. Fifty-four of those were Lebanese, 22 were Ethiopian and there were also two British and one Canadian nationals on board. The wife of the French ambassador to Lebanon was also on the flight. The crash occurred shortly after the plane took off from Beirut International Airport in heavy storms. It was headed to the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa. But just five minutes after take-off, the plane disappeared from the radar, witnesses reported seeing a huge fireball as the plane fell from the sky The crash site is about two miles offshore. The airline confirmed the plane's disappearance on its website. This is the third crash involving the state-owned Ethiopian Airlines in 20 years. It's positioned as one of the major airlines in Africa , given its reputation as one of the safest aircraft carriers in the continent A day of mourning has been declared in Lebanon and while officials are still involved in the recovery phase, it's not believed, at this stage, that sabotage was involved. The Lebanese President Michel Suleiman said that it was highly unlikely and that an investigation would reveal the cause of the crashing ABC News reporter Sonia Gallego is in London with more.