Nairobi, (dpa/GNA) – Six tourists and a pilot have been killed in a helicopter crash in Kenya, the operator and tour company responsible said on Thursday.
The US State Department confirmed that five of the victims were US citizens. The presidential office of Ecuador said one of the dead was also an Ecuadorian national. The nationality of the seventh victim has not been disclosed.
According to the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority (KCAA), the chartered Eurocopter EC130 B4, crashed near Mount Ololokwe in Samburu County, which lies in the Rift Valley, a popular destination for tourists.
The crash occurred on Wednesday, shortly after take-off from the Loisaba nature reserve. Kenya’s Transport Ministry has launched an investigation into the circumstances of the accident.
GNA