Crashed Zambian chopper

A gloomy mood engulfed Wilson Airport on Sunday afternoon minutes after 1pm when a chopper accidentally crashed and burst into flames seconds after taking off from the runway. Two occupants said to be of Zambian origin were on board at the time of the accident and narrowly escaped death in the spectacle which caught the attention of the nearby residents who flocked at the scene of the incident. Luckily, rescue efforts came in handy and the two occupants were quickly removed from the wreckage and immediately rushed to Nairobi Hospital.

Eyewitnesses said that they saw the chopper taking off normally and suddenly came down crashing, bursting into flames. Police present at the scene of the accident confirmed that one of the injured occupants was the owner of the chopper and was in the company of another occupant who was of a Zambian origin too.

Further information revealed indicated that the two made a stop-over at the airport from Juba in South Sudan and were headed for Tanzania before the accident happened. According to the police, the stop-over was viewed as an emergency landing caused by mechanical problems as they were destined for Mwanza in Tanzania.

However, preliminary findings revealed that the chopper had developed some mechanical problems few seconds after take-off. On the scene of the accident were the Airport CID Boss Mr. Joseph Ngisa and a team of experts who said that clues to the actual cause of the accident were still being carried out. “The plane crash landed near the fence of the airport and so far two occupants have been rescued and rushed to hospital but it was burnt completely,” confirmed Ngisa.

The incident comes just months after a Euro-copter crashed within the Ngong Forest leaving six occupants burnt to death, including the then Internal Security Minister the Late George Saitoti and his assistant Minister the Late Orwa Ojode. The cause of the accident is yet to be established as investigations are still ongoing.

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