Americans among those killed in Kenya safari tour helicopter crash, State Department says
View of the Ewaso Nyiro River in the Samburu National Reserve in Kenya. (Photo by Wolfgang Kaehler/LightRocket via Getty Images)
NAIROBI, Kenya - Five Americans were among seven people killed Wednesday when a helicopter carrying tourists on a safari crashed in a remote area of northern Kenya, U.S. and Kenyan officials said.
Dig deeper:
The helicopter went down at 9:13 a.m. while flying from the Loisaba Conservancy to the Ewaso Nyiro area in Samburu County, according to the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority. Six passengers and the pilot were aboard the aircraft, and the authority said an investigation into the crash was underway.
The U.S. State Department confirmed that five Americans were killed.
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David Nkoroi, the police commander for Samburu, told reporters that all seven people on board had died but did not immediately identify the victims.
NBCUniversal said later Wednesday that José Alberto Suárez, president and general manager of Telemundo 31, Telemundo 49 and Telemundo Ft. Myers–Naples, was among those killed.
Local media reported that the helicopter crashed in rugged terrain near the foothills of Mount Ololokwe, a popular tourist destination in Kenya. The aircraft was owned by local company Lady Lori Helicopters and was carrying guests traveling with &Beyond.
What they're saying:
Lady Lori Helicopters said in a statement that the aircraft was operating a charter flight when it crashed.
Tropic Air Kenya, a local safari operator, said it dispatched two helicopters to assist with search and rescue operations.
The Kenya Civil Aviation Authority identified the aircraft as a Eurocopter EC130 B4.
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What's next:
The Kenya Red Cross said its emergency response teams were "participating in a multiagency response effort as rescue teams work to access the crash site."
Big picture view:
Helicopter crashes have occurred with increasing regularity in Kenya, which has a major tourism industry that relies on domestic carriers to transport visitors to remote destinations such as Mount Ololokwe.
In February, a legislator was among six people killed when a helicopter crashed in a hilly area of western Kenya.
The Source: The Associated Press contributed to this report. The information in the story came from multiple official and company sources, including the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority. This story was reported from Los Angeles.