Tragedy: Americans, pilot die in chopper crash

Four Americans and their Kenyan pilot, Captain Mario Magonga, were killed when their helicopter crashed on a remote island in Lake Turkana in a national park in northwest Kenya, police said on Monday.

The aircraft came down in Central Island National Park at around 8 p.m. on Sunday, police said, killing all on board.

The cause of the crash had yet to be determined.

According to the Standard newspaper, the chopper belongs to Deputy President William Ruto.

His official pilot Captain Magonga was the pilot of the chopper. He was aged 45. Magonga was also said to be a cousin of Deputy President William Ruto.

The passengers are believed to be tourists and had visited Lobolo Tented camp on the island’s national park.

The tourist group had two choppers and one managed to clear from the ground and flew to Nairobi. As the second one tried to clear, it crashed, killing all five on board, witnesses said.

Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) officials rushed to the scene minutes later and confirmed the incident.

Police did not identify the victims, saying next of kin had to be notified first.

The crash comes less than a month after three Americans were among five who died in a plane crash in the west of the country.