Six people were killed on Thursday, August 7, when a light aircraft operated by medical charity ‘Amref Flying Doctors’ crashed into a residential building in Nairobi’s Githurai area.
The Cessna plane, which had departed Wilson Airport for Hargeisa in Somalia, lost radio and radar contact just three minutes after take-off before bursting into flames on impact.
Authorities confirmed that the dead included four people on board — doctors, nurses, and the pilot — along with two people on the ground.
Two others were seriously injured. Investigators have been dispatched to determine the cause, while the Kenya Defence Forces and National Police Service are carrying out search and recovery operations.
Eyewitnesses described hearing a loud bang and seeing a flash followed by thick smoke before discovering the wreckage had carved a crater into the ground.
In a separate tragedy the same day, at least four people died when a train collided with a Kenya Pipeline Company staff bus near Naivasha town, in central Kenya. The bus was carrying employees finishing their morning shift, and all injured passengers were taken to hospital for treatment. Both incidents have underscored concerns over transport safety in the country.