INVESTIGATION UNDERWAY

Plane Carrying Tourists Crashes on Way to National Park

Ten tourists and a crew member were killed after a safari plane went down in a nature reserve in Kenya.

Eleven people have been killed after a small aircraft flying tourists over a wildlife reserve in Kenya burst into flames on Monday shortly after takeoff. The aircraft, operated by Kenyan airline Mombasa Air Safari, was set to fly holidaymakers to the Maasai Mara National Reserve when it crashed in a hilly, forested area in Kwele just minutes after taking to the sky, killing everyone on board. Eight Hungarians, two Germans, and a Kenyan crew member were on the craft when it went down, authorities confirmed, and their bodies were found among the charred wreckage of the craft at around 5.30 a.m. local time. “A Mombasa Air Safari Cessna 208B Grand Caravan, flight RRV203, crashed near Kwale,” the Aviation Safety Network reported. “The 11 occupants perished, and the aircraft was destroyed.” The Kenyan Civil Aviation Authority previously reported that 12 people were onboard the aircraft. Witnesses reported hearing a loud bang before discovering the destroyed craft. The cause of the crash is under investigation, with authorities noting poor visibility and adverse weather conditions as potential factors.