Six people have died after a small aircraft operated by medical charity Amref Flying Doctors crashed and caught fire in a residential area of Nairobi on Thursday afternoon.
The Cessna plane, which had taken off from Wilson Airport then route to Hargeisa in Somalia, went down in Githurai, a densely populated district on the outskirts of Kenya’s capital.
Kiambu County Commissioner Henry Wafula confirmed that four people on board, including doctors, nurses, and the pilot, were killed instantly, alongside two people on the ground. Two others sustained serious injuries and were rushed to hospital.
The Kenya Civil Aviation Authority said the aircraft lost both radio and radar contact just three minutes after departure. Amref Flying Doctors confirmed that the four on board were charity crew and medical staff.
“At this time, we are cooperating fully with relevant aviation authorities and emergency response teams to establish the facts surrounding the situation,” said Amref CEO Stephen Gitau in a statement.
The Kenya Defence Forces and National Police Service were deployed to assist in search and recovery efforts, while aviation investigators moved in to determine the cause of the crash.
In an unrelated incident the same day, a train and a bus collided at a railway crossing near Naivasha, central Kenya, killing at least four people, according to the Kenya Red Cross.
The Kenya Pipeline Company, owner of the bus, said it had been carrying staff finishing their morning shift at one of its training centres. All injured passengers were taken to hospital for treatment.