A small passenger plane travelling from Kenya’s coast to the Maasai Mara National Park crashed early Tuesday, killing all 11 people on board, most of them foreign tourists, the airline confirmed.
The aircraft, operated by Mombasa Air Safari, was flying from Diani—a popular coastal resort—to Kichwa Tembo Airstrip in the Maasai Mara when it went down at about 5:30 a.m. local time (0230 GMT).
Mombasa Air Safari chairman John Cleave said the crash claimed the lives of eight Hungarians, two Germans, and a Kenyan pilot.
“Sadly, there are no survivors,” Cleave said in a statement, adding that the company had activated its emergency response team and was working closely with local authorities.
“Our hearts and prayers are with all those affected by this tragic event,” he added.
An earlier statement from the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority (KCAA) suggested the aircraft had been carrying 12 people, though officials later revised the number. The KCAA said government agencies were already at the crash site to investigate the cause of the accident.
Photographs and videos from local media showed the charred wreckage of the plane in dense forest near Mwangoni village, Kwale County, with police and rescue officials examining debris in the rain.
Kenyan police and emergency service personnel were seen collecting evidence amid the burned remains of the aircraft.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán expressed his condolences to the victims’ families, saying his government was in contact with Kenyan authorities following the tragedy.
In a related incident, a light aircraft operated by the medical charity Amref crashed near Nairobi in August, killing six people and injuring two others.
