A small Cessna Caravan plane carrying 10 foreign tourists crashed into the forested hills of the Kwale coastal region in Kenya’s Maasai Mara National Reserve on Tuesday morning, according to local officials.
“There were 11 people on board the plane,” Kenya Civil Aviation Authority (KCAA) confirmed.
“Sadly there were no survivors,” flight operator Mombasa Air Safari said. In a statement, chairman John Cleve said the passengers included eight Hungarians, two Germans and a Kenyan captain.
The plane crashed shortly after takeoff
The plane was headed to Kichwa Tembo, a private airstrip inside the park, when it crashed at about 5:30 a.m. (0230 GMT).
Authorities say the crash occurred shortly after takeoff, about 40 kilometers (25 miles) from the Diani airstrip. Eyewitnesses said they heard a big bang and then saw flames.
Authorities say investigators found charred debris and unidentified human remains at the crash site, adding that they will need time to piece together what happened.
Mombasa Air Safari said it was working closely with civil aviation authorities to establish the cause of the crash.
The Maasai Mara National Reserve is a popular tourist destination, where guests can observe the annual wildebeest migration of hundreds of thousands of wildebeest, zebras and gazelles from the Serengeti in Tanzania.
Edited by: Kieran Burke