Helicopter crashes in a remote area of northern Kenya

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — A helicopter carrying an unknown number of passengers crashed Wednesday morning in a remote part of northern Kenya, the country’s aviation agency said.

The helicopter crashed at 9:13 a.m. while flying from the Loisaba Conservancy to the Ewaso Nyiro area in Samburu County, according to the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority, which said in a statement that an investigation was underway.

The helicopter crashed in a rugged area in the foothills of Mount Ololokwe, a popular tourist destination, local media reported. It was not immediately clear if the helicopter was carrying tourists or others.

Tropic Air Kenya, a local safari operator, said in a statement it dispatched two of its helicopters to aid search and rescue operations but denied ownership of the helicopter that crashed. Local media had reported that Tropic Air operated the helicopter.

The aviation authority said the aircraft was a Eurocopter EC130 B4, which can carry up to seven passengers, but didn’t say how many people were on board.

The Kenya Red Cross said its emergency response teams were “participating in a multiagency response effort as rescue teams work to access the crash site.”

Helicopter crashes have happened with increasing regularity in Kenya, which has a vibrant tourism industry that depends on domestic carriers to ferry visitors to distant places like Mount Ololokwe.

In February, a legislator was among six people who died after a helicopter crash in a hilly area of western Kenya.

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This story has been corrected after a previous version erroneously said local safari company Tropic Air operated the helicopter.