Kenya is mourning again the death of ten Kenyan Defense Forces officers who died in the line of duty while training in Kajiado County.
Kenya Defence Forces Spokesperson, Zipporah Kioko confirmed their death through a press statement. According to the press statement, the Mi 17IE helicopter crashed around 9 AM on Thursday morning
Those on board were 23 soldiers on a training mission in Kajiado. Those that sustained injuries were rushed to Defence Forces Memorial Hospital while the deceased were air lifted to Nairobi as the ministry of Defence planned to communicate their demise to their respective families.
Eye witnesses who witnessed crashing of the plane said that the plane was making rounds in the area for about 20 minutes before crashing. The eye witnesses also confirmed that those who were on board tried to jump out of the plane before it crashed.
The plane crash happened just a few months after another army plane crashed in Tsavo National Park in Voi killing four soldiers. The helicopter crashed on its way to pick the vice chief of defence from his rural home and air lift him to Nairobi.
As Kenya Defence Forces helicopters continue to crash, the ministry of defence has said that it is in a process to acquire new helicopters as they phase out the old ones since they are prone to crashes. Already Kenya has already received one C – 145 Skytruck aircraft and it is expecting to receive two additional aircrafts by the end of this year.
