Diani [Kenya], October 29: A light plane crash has killed 11 people, mostly foreign tourists, in Kenya's coastal region of Kwale while flying to Maasai Mara National Reserve.
The airline, Mombasa Air Safari, said in a statement on Tuesday that eight Hungarian and two German passengers were on board, and that the Kenyan pilot was also killed.
Sadly, there are no survivors," Mombasa Air Safari added. There was heavy rain in coastal Kenya in the morning.
The Civil Aviation Authority said the accident happened at Kwale, near the Indian Ocean coast, at about 8:30am (05:30 GMT). A regional police commander, in comments aired by public broadcaster Kenya Broadcasting Corporation, said all the passengers were tourists.
Citizen TV station said the bodies of those on board had been burned beyond recognition. The plane crashed in a hilly and forested area about 40 kilometres (25 miles) from Diani airstrip, authorities said.
The aircraft burst into flames, leaving a charred wreckage at the scene, officials said. Witnesses told The Associated Press news agency. that they heard a loud bang, and upon arriving at the scene, they found human remains. Investigating agencies were looking into the cause of the crash, Kwale County Commissioner Stephen Orinde told The AP.
The Maasai Mara National Reserve, located west of the coastline and is a two-hour direct flight from Diani, a popular coastal town known for its sandy beaches. The reserve attracts a large number of tourists as it features the annual wildebeest migration from the Serengeti in Tanzania.
According to the most recent safety oversight audit for Kenya posted on the International Civil Aviation Organization site, from 2018, the country fell below the global average in accident investigation.
Source: Qatar Tribune
