On Wednesday morning, a serious aviation accident occurred in Kenya, East Africa. A private helicopter belonging to the renowned luxury travel agency &Beyond, carrying the company’s tourists, crashed in Samburu County in northern Kenya.
Local authorities confirmed to media outlets like Agence France-Presse that all 7 people on board (including 6 tourists and 1 pilot) have tragically lost their lives.
The Kenya Civil Aviation Authority (KCAA) released a statement indicating that the accident happened at 9:13 a.m. local time on Wednesday (6:13 a.m. Greenwich Mean Time). The helicopter involved was a Eurocopter EC130 B4 (registration number: 5Y-GYM), operated by the well-known local wildlife tourism charter company Tropic Air.
Preliminary investigations suggest that the helicopter was conducting a scenic flight, transporting tourists booked through &Beyond, with the original plan to travel from the Loisaba Conservancy to the Ewaso Nyiro River basin in the Samburu National Reserve.
The crash site is located in the Kirish area near the foothills of Mount Ololokwe, a sacred mountain for the Samburu people. Due to the steep and remote terrain of the area, the search and rescue operation pose significant challenges.
Videos from the scene circulated on social media platform X (formerly known as Twitter) and local media show massive black smoke billowing from the crash site accompanied by intense flames. Local residents promptly reported the incident to authorities and organized themselves to assist in rescue efforts.
Currently, the Kenyan Red Cross has coordinated a joint rescue team with multiple government departments and deployed drones and rescue helicopters to the site for accident management and body retrieval. The specific nationalities and identities of the deceased tourists are still pending official verification and notification to their families.
Regarding the cause of the crash, the Air Accident Investigation Department (AAID) under the Kenyan Ministry of Transport has teamed up with the Civil Aviation Authority to initiate a comprehensive investigation into the aviation accident.