AGL 37.89 Decreased By ▼ -0.26 (-0.68%)
AIRLINK 124.10 Increased By ▲ 2.59 (2.13%)
BOP 5.67 Decreased By ▼ -0.18 (-3.08%)
CNERGY 3.75 No Change ▼ 0.00 (0%)
DCL 8.55 Increased By ▲ 0.15 (1.79%)
DFML 40.48 Decreased By ▼ -0.41 (-1%)
DGKC 87.10 Increased By ▲ 2.50 (2.96%)
FCCL 33.98 Increased By ▲ 1.28 (3.91%)
FFBL 66.01 Increased By ▲ 0.51 (0.78%)
FFL 10.20 Increased By ▲ 0.15 (1.49%)
HUBC 104.45 Increased By ▲ 0.65 (0.63%)
HUMNL 13.45 Increased By ▲ 0.20 (1.51%)
KEL 4.78 Increased By ▲ 0.35 (7.9%)
KOSM 6.84 Decreased By ▼ -0.25 (-3.53%)
MLCF 38.84 Increased By ▲ 1.34 (3.57%)
NBP 60.35 Increased By ▲ 0.10 (0.17%)
OGDC 179.65 Increased By ▲ 7.40 (4.3%)
PAEL 24.97 Increased By ▲ 0.17 (0.69%)
PIBTL 5.71 Increased By ▲ 0.01 (0.18%)
PPL 153.00 Increased By ▲ 11.31 (7.98%)
PRL 22.79 Increased By ▲ 0.07 (0.31%)
PTC 14.91 Increased By ▲ 0.17 (1.15%)
SEARL 66.85 Increased By ▲ 2.29 (3.55%)
TELE 7.01 Decreased By ▼ -0.13 (-1.82%)
TOMCL 35.70 Increased By ▲ 0.20 (0.56%)
TPLP 7.32 Increased By ▲ 0.03 (0.41%)
TREET 13.99 Decreased By ▼ -0.21 (-1.48%)
TRG 50.95 Decreased By ▼ -0.80 (-1.55%)
UNITY 26.40 Decreased By ▼ -0.20 (-0.75%)
WTL 1.23 Increased By ▲ 0.01 (0.82%)
BR100 9,717 Increased By 233.5 (2.46%)
BR30 29,237 Increased By 866.2 (3.05%)
KSE100 90,860 Increased By 1893.1 (2.13%)
KSE30 28,458 Increased By 630.4 (2.27%)

Kenya's internal security minister, who was closely involved in the fight against Somali militant group al Shabaab, was killed when the police helicopter he was travelling in crashed into a forest on Sunday. George Saitoti, his deputy Orwa Ojode, two pilots and two bodyguards were killed when the aircraft came down outside the capital Nairobi and burst into flames, the government said.
A prospective candidate in next March's presidential election, Saitoti was one of the most outspoken government politicians on the threat from Somali militants, often visiting scenes of al Shabaab's attacks and vowing to crush the group.
Kenya sent troops across the Somali border last October in pursuit of al Shabaab, drawing a series of retaliatory grenade attacks on its soil, killing several people.
Prime Minister Raila Odinga said investigations into the cause of the crash had started and that the cabinet would hold a special session on the incident.
"This is a terrible tragedy that has struck our country this morning. Nobody knows exactly the cause of this accident. That is why experts will carry out investigations," Odinga told reporters at the scene of the crash.
"We will do everything possible to ensure we find we find out the cause of this accident, but for now it is just an accident."
Witnesses said they saw a helicopter swaying wildly in the air at about 8:30 a.m. (0530 GMT) in foggy weather.
"I heard an explosion and I rushed to the scene," said 25-year old Leonard Njoroge whose house is a stone's throw away from the crash site.
"Others came and we tried to put out the fire using sand but it was too fierce. It was too late for the passengers. We didn't know at the time it was carrying prominent people."
Debris of the burnt-out helicopter were strewn in the forest in the Ngong area just outside of Nairobi where government officials and curious locals jostled to catch a glimpse.

Copyright Reuters, 2012

Comments

Comments are closed.