Six people have been confirmed d3ad after a small medical aircraft crashed into a residential building in the Utawala area of Nairobi, Kenya, on Thursday, August 7
According to a statement from Emile N. Arao, Director General of the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority (KCAA), the Cessna Citation 560 ambulance aircraft went down near Mwihoko Secondary School shortly after taking off from Wilson Airport at around 2:15 p.m. local time.
The aircraft lost both radio and radar contact with Air Traffic Control just three minutes after departure.
The plane, operated by AMREF Flying Doctors, was en route to Hargeisa, Somalia, when it crashed and caught fire, The Kenya Times reported.
All four occupants onboard the aircraft died in the crash, along with two people who were inside a home struck by the falling plane, according to reports by Reuters and Newsweek.
“We are deeply saddened by this tragic incident involving an air ambulance mission,” Arao said. “Our immediate priority is to support rescue efforts and provide all necessary assistance to the families affected.”
AMREF Flying Doctors confirmed its cooperation with ongoing investigations and authorities, as reported by Newsweek and The Star.
This tragedy comes less than 24 hours after a separate aviation disaster in Ghana, where Defence Minister Edward Omane Boamah and Environment Minister Ibrahim Murtala Muhammed were among eight people killed in a military helicopter crash in the Ashanti region on Wednesday.
Julius Debrah, Chief of Staff to President John Mahama, confirmed that three other government officials and three Air Force personnel also lost their lives in the Ghana crash.
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