Ofure Akhigbe
A small passenger plane carrying 12 people has crashed in Kwale County, near Kenya’s coast, authorities confirmed on Tuesday.
The Kenya Civil Aviation Authority (KCAA) said in a statement that the aircraft, registered as 5Y-CCA and operated by Mombasa Air Safari, was flying from the coastal town of Diani to Kichwa Tembo, a resort area near the Maasai Mara game reserve, when it went down at around 05:30 local time (02:30 GMT).
Images published by Kenyan media showed the wreckage engulfed in flames with debris scattered across a hilly, forested area about 40 kilometres from Diani. Police sources quoted by local news outlets said several foreign tourists were among those on board.
Emergency response teams and investigators from government agencies arrived at the crash site early Tuesday morning. The KCAA said efforts were underway to establish the cause of the accident and to determine the extent of casualties.
While the aviation authority has not yet released an official casualty figure, early reports from police and local witnesses indicate that all 12 people on board are feared dead.
The crash marks one of Kenya’s deadliest domestic aviation incidents in recent years.