A rescue official works on the website of a vacationer helicopter crash that brought about a number of casualties, in line with the police, in Samburu County, Kenya, on August 19, 2026.
| Photograph Credit score: Reuters
Ecuador’s intelligence chief and 5 U.S. residents died when a vacationer helicopter crashed in central Kenya on Wednesday, killing all seven individuals on board, officers mentioned.
The accident occurred Wednesday morning in Samburu County, north of the capital Nairobi, in line with the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority (KCAA).
The plane had departed from the Loisaba wildlife reserve.
This photograph offered by the Kenya Crimson Cross reveals Kenya Crimson Cross emergency response groups throughout a multi-agency rescue and restoration operation in response to a helicopter crash that killed vacationers close to Mt. Ololokwe in Samburu, Kenya, on August 19, 2026.
| Photograph Credit score:
AP
Photos shared by the Kenya Crimson Cross on X within the afternoon confirmed a crash website in flames. It mentioned troublesome terrain hampered rescue operations.
“There have been seven individuals on board the helicopter, one pilot and 6 passengers,” Fredrick Kabunge, director of the Plane Accident Investigation Division (AAID), informed AFP, confirming that nobody had survived.
Contacted by AFP on Wednesday night (August 19, 2026), Samburu County police chief David Nkoroi mentioned “operations have been suspended till tomorrow due to darkness and the complicated nature of the bottom and the scene of the crash.”
Ecuador’s Transport Minister Roberto Luque mentioned the Latin American nation’s intelligence chief Michele Sensi-Contugi and his spouse have been amongst these killed.
“At this time Michele and Stephany left us too quickly. Considering of their household, particularly their kids and fogeys,” Luque wrote on X.
Sensi-Contugi, 42, is a former businessman appointed as head of Ecuador’s Nationwide Intelligence Heart in 2024.
He was an in depth affiliate of Ecuador’s right-wing President Daniel Noboa, who has made his nation a key U.S. associate in Washington’s renewed fight towards drug cartels.
A U.S. State Division spokesperson mentioned that 5 Americans died within the crash, with out offering their identities.
Spanish-language broadcaster Telemundo, nevertheless, introduced that one among its senior managers in Florida, Jose Alberto Suarez, had died within the crash.
“We’re heartbroken to study the tragic information that Jose was killed in a helicopter accident in Kenya,” mentioned a press release by Cesar Conde, newsgroup chairman of dad or mum firm NBCUniversal, and two different executives.
“Jose was an distinctive colleague who cared deeply about his groups, the communities they served and the necessary position our stations play in individuals’s lives.”
Kabunge mentioned the “helicopter was transporting vacationers for a scenic flight”.
In a video shared on X, black smoke could possibly be seen billowing into the sky on the foot of Mount Ololokwe, the place the crash occurred.
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Mount Ololokwe is a sacred mountain for the Samburu individuals, its summit rising 2,000 metres (6,560 toes) above sea degree, and it’s a common climbing vacation spot. Firms provide helicopter flyovers.
The reason for the crash has not but been established, with KCAA saying investigations have been underway.
In March, a helicopter crash in western Kenya killed six individuals, together with a member of parliament.
Revealed – August 20, 2026 03:27 am IST
