Seven killed in Kenya tourist helicopter crash
- 'There were 7 people on board the helicopter, one pilot and six passengers'
NAIROBI: A helicopter carrying six tourists and a pilot crashed Wednesday in Kenya’s Samburu county, north of the capital, Nairobi, killing all those on board, authorities told AFP.
The accident happened at 09:13 am local time (0613 GMT), according to the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority (KCAA), after the aircraft departed from the Loisaba wildlife reserve.
“There were 7 people on board the helicopter, one pilot and six passengers,” Fredrick Kabunge, director of the Aircraft Accident Investigation Department (AAID), told AFP, confirming that no one survived.
Earlier, an aviation source who sought anonymity confirmed the accident to AFP, saying: “There are no survivors.”
In a video shared on X, black smoke can be seen billowing into the sky at the foot of Mount Ololokwe, where the crash occurred.
Kabunge said the “helicopter was transporting tourists for a scenic flight”.
Mount Ololokwe, a sacred mountain for the Samburu people whose summit rises to 2,000 metres (6,560 feet) above sea level, is a popular hiking destination. Companies offer helicopter flyovers.
Kabunge said the nationalities of the tourists had yet to be established.
The cause of the crash has not yet been established, with KCAA saying investigations were underway.
The Kenya Red Cross also said that response operations were ongoing, part of a multi-agency team attempting to access the crash site.
Images shared by the Red Cross on X in the afternoon showed a crash site in flames.
In March, a helicopter crash in western Kenya killed six people, including a member of parliament.
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