A light aircraft carrying 12 people has crashed in Kwale County, near Kenya’s coastline, shortly after taking off on Tuesday morning.
According to officials, the plane was en route to the Maasai Mara National Reserve, one of Kenya’s most popular tourist destinations famed for the annual wildebeest migration from Tanzania’s Serengeti.
Images published by Daily Nation showed the aircraft engulfed in flames, with wreckage strewn across the crash site. Residents reported hearing a loud explosion moments before discovering the burning plane.
“It was still very early when I heard a loud bang. I rushed to the scene and found that the plane had caught fire and there was no one we could save,” local resident Makopa Sazu told Daily Nation.
READ ALSO: NSC Pays Condolence Visit To Kano Over Fatal Road Crash
In a statement, the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority (KCAA) confirmed the incident, saying that emergency response teams and investigators were already at the site to determine the cause of the crash and assess the extent of the damage.
Local reports indicate that the region experienced heavy rainfall on Monday night, and thick fog blanketed the hilly terrain on Tuesday morning—conditions that may have contributed to the accident.
Kwale County Commissioner Stephen Orinde said all the passengers were foreign tourists, adding that their nationalities would be disclosed once authorities had completed identification procedures.
