At least 3 dead in light plane crash in Kenya - UPDATED
Photo: The Kenya Times
A light aircraft crash-landed Friday in Kenya's coastal Malindi County, killing three people on the ground, a local police official said.
The three fatalities included a motorcycle taxi driver who was killed when the plane burst into flames on impact in the town of Kwachocha along the Malindi-Mombasa highway, Sub-County Police Commander LuckyJoski Mudavadi said.Two other victims, a motorcycle rider and a female passenger, died when parts from the separated wings and tail of the plane hit them as the aircraft crashed into a building.
A pilot and two students who were on board were being treated for injuries sustained after they jumped out of the plane before it crashed. Police were investigating the cause of the accident.
The Kwachocha area neighbors Malindi airport and its residents are in court over government plans to expand the airport before land compensation cases are concluded.
A local county assembly legislator, Rashid Odhiambo, told journalists that the accident reemphasizes the need for safety precautions to be enforced around the airport.
“Those involved in the airport management should keep ensuring safety around the airport and not just concentrate on inside the airport,” he said.
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A light plane crashed and caught fire in the Kwachocha area of Kenya’s Malindi on the afternoon of Friday, January 10, leaving several people feared dead.
The plane crash-landed along the side of the Malindi-Mombasa Highway and caught fire upon impact, News.Az reports, citing The Kenya Times.
Eyewitnesses reported that the plane fell on some motorcycles in the area, causing further damage.
At the time of publishing, the exact number of casualties and cause of the crash was yet to be established.
However, witnesses and initial accounts suggest that the crash may have also caused fatalities with people burned beyond recognition.
The scene has been cordoned off as emergency teams and investigators work to piece together the events leading to the crash.
Firefighters rushed to the scene of the Malindi plane crash and swiftly worked to extinguish the flames.
This incident adds to a series of recent aviation accidents in Kenya. In September 2024, a light aircraft operated by an aviation school crashed into Nairobi National Park, injuring the pilot and a trainee.
Earlier, in March 2024, a tragic mid-air collision between a training aircraft and a passenger plane near Wilson Airport resulted in two fatalities.
A light #planecrash and caught fire in the Kwachocha area of #Kenya’s #Malindi on the afternoon of Friday, January 10, leaving several people feared dead. pic.twitter.com/TutcThMwLx
— News.Az (@news_az) January 10, 2025
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