Five Americans and the head of Ecuador’s intelligence agency died after a helicopter carrying tourists crashed in central Kenya Wednesday.
The aircraft was traveling from the Loisaba wildlife conservancy to the Ewaso Ngiro river area when it crashed around 9:13 a.m. at Mount Ololokwe in Samburu county, north of the capital, Nairobi, according to the country’s civil aviation authority.
All seven people on board the aircraft died, Samburu County Police Commander David Nkoroi told reporters.
The helicopter was carrying guests from the luxury tour agency &Beyond on a charter flight, according to operator Lady Lori Helicopters.
Michele Sensi-Contugi, the director general of Ecuador’s intelligence agency, and his wife, fashion designer Stephany Hollihan, were killed in the crash, according to Ecuadorian authorities.
Ecuador’s presidential office offered condolences to Sensi-Contugi’s family in a post on Wednesday afternoon. The country’s foreign ministry said its embassy in South Africa is coordinating with local authorities and allies in the region, given it does not have a diplomatic mission in Kenya.
“The death of (Sensi-Contugi) represents a great loss for the country,” the ministry said in its statement.Hollihan was the founder and CEO of Sensi Studio, which issued a statement Wednesday expressing its condolences. “Her passion for design, craftsmanship, and the people behind it shaped the brand and all of us who had the privilege of being part of her journey,” the company said.
An executive of the American Spanish-language television company Telemundo, José Suárez, was also among those killed in the crash, the company said. Suárez was president and general manager of multiple Telemundo-owned stations.
“The US Embassy is in touch with local authorities and is providing consular assistance,” said a State Department spokesperson, who confirmed the deaths of the five Americans. “We extend our deepest condolences to the families and loved ones on their loss.”
Earlier reports say that Six tourists and a pilot have been killed after a helicopter crashed at Mount Ololokwe in central Kenya, air accident officials have told the BBC.The Aircraft Accident Investigation Department said the nationalities of the pilot and passengers were yet to be confirmed.
The Kenya Civil Aviation Authority (KCAA) said the accident happened in Samburu county at approximately 09:13 local time (06:13 GMT).
It said the helicopter was on a scenic flight from a wildlife conservancy in Loisaba to Ewaso Nyiro, a river that flows along several national reserves.
An image shared online shows smoke at the crash site at Mount Ololokwe.
The Kenya Red Cross has told the BBC that the area is not yet accessible, but drones are being used to assess the scene.
The KCAA said the accident involved a Eurocopter EC130 B4 and it was co-ordinating operations.
The transport ministry and Air Accident Investigations Department would lead "investigations into the circumstances surrounding the accident", it added.
Samburu county is a popular tourist destination with many private wildlife conservancies and is renowned for its stunning scenery.
Helicopter crashes are not uncommon in Kenya.
In February, a helicopter crash in the Rift Valley county of Nandi killed six people, including a member of parliament.
In 2024, the military chief, Gen Francis Omondi Ogolla, died after an army helicopter that was carrying 11 people crashed in the west of the country, with only two survivors
In June 2021 at least 10 soldiers were killed when their helicopter crashed while landing near the capital, Nairobi.
