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8 August 2025
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Six killed in air ambulance crash just outside Kenya's capital
A plane belonging to an air ambulance service provider crashed in a residential area just outside Kenya's capital on Thursday, 7 August 2025, killing at least six people, according to a local official and the aircraft's owner. AMREF Flying Doctors said that the mid-size jet, a Cessna Citation XLS, took off from an airport in Nairobi and was heading to the territory of Somaliland when it crashed. The service provider didn't provide the number of casualties or a possible cause, saying in a statement that it was “cooperating fully with relevant aviation authorities and emergency response teams to establish the facts surrounding the situation.”
The plane crashed in the residential area of Mwihoko in Kiambu County, which shares a border with Nairobi.
A local official, Kiambu County Commissioner Henry Wafula, told reporters at the scene that four people on board were killed in the crash. Two other victims were inside a house into which the plane crashed, he said.
The Kenya Red Cross said that its rescue teams headed to the crash scene in Kiambu, a county that shares a border with Nairobi. Earlier, the Kenya Red Cross had said that the aircraft that crashed was a helicopter.
“The plane started burning while in the air,” resident Tasha Wanjira told AFP, before it hurtled down into the small community.
Another resident, Irene Wangui, described how the “plane passed by our building shaking it,” and said when the aircraft came down “, there were body parts littered all over.”
As dusk fell, hundreds remained to watch the rescue workers, with residents sobbing as they were comforted by neighbours. “I have lost everything, thank God my children were not around,” Margaret Wairimu told AFP, weeping over her destroyed home.
Amref Flying Doctors CEO, Stephen Gitau, confirmed one of their aeroplanes, a Cessna Citation XLS, had been “involved in a fatal accident today,” but did not provide any further details. Gitau said the company was focusing on “the safety and well-being of those on board” and said that further information would be provided “as it is confirmed.” Based in Nairobi, Amref was founded in 1957 as the Flying Doctors of East Africa.
Source: Associated Press
The plane crashed in the residential area of Mwihoko in Kiambu County, which shares a border with Nairobi.
A local official, Kiambu County Commissioner Henry Wafula, told reporters at the scene that four people on board were killed in the crash. Two other victims were inside a house into which the plane crashed, he said.
The Kenya Red Cross said that its rescue teams headed to the crash scene in Kiambu, a county that shares a border with Nairobi. Earlier, the Kenya Red Cross had said that the aircraft that crashed was a helicopter.
“The plane started burning while in the air,” resident Tasha Wanjira told AFP, before it hurtled down into the small community.
Another resident, Irene Wangui, described how the “plane passed by our building shaking it,” and said when the aircraft came down “, there were body parts littered all over.”
As dusk fell, hundreds remained to watch the rescue workers, with residents sobbing as they were comforted by neighbours. “I have lost everything, thank God my children were not around,” Margaret Wairimu told AFP, weeping over her destroyed home.
Amref Flying Doctors CEO, Stephen Gitau, confirmed one of their aeroplanes, a Cessna Citation XLS, had been “involved in a fatal accident today,” but did not provide any further details. Gitau said the company was focusing on “the safety and well-being of those on board” and said that further information would be provided “as it is confirmed.” Based in Nairobi, Amref was founded in 1957 as the Flying Doctors of East Africa.
Source: Associated Press
