The parts located so far include the plane’s doors, headphones used by some of the five victims who perished in the crash and other parts believed to belong to the chopper. Photo/WANJIRU MACHARIA.
The parts located so far include the plane’s doors, headphones used by some of the five victims who perished in the crash and other parts believed to belong to the chopper.
“Also found is a bag belonging to the pilot which contains the aircraft’s documents,” according to an official who spoke to journalists at the scene.
The search was suspended on Saturday night due to poor visibility and only resumed on Sunday morning with the hope of getting the bodies.
“We are making very good progress and hope to find the bodies,” another official coordinating the search said.
The wreckage of the chopper was spotted on the southern part of Lake Nakuru National Park late Saturday by a team from the Kenya Navy, Police and Wildlife service who are conducting the search.
The chopper crashed into Lake Nakuru at about 6am yesterday, shortly after take-off from Jarika Hotel in Free Hold estate in the town where it had been parked since Wednesday, according to area police chief Joshua Omukata.
A combined team from the Kenya Navy, Kenya Police, Kenya Wildlife Service, Kenya Forest Service and divers from Naivasha are involved in the search.
The pilot, a lady friend and three bloggers attached to Nakuru Senator Susan Kihika are believed to have perished in the crash. Capital FM News has obtained the names of the crash victims but cannot publish them until authorities confirm that all the next of kin have been informed.
A statement from the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority (KCAA) said “initial indications are that there are no survivors.”
“There were five people on board—a male pilot, including three male passengers and a female passenger,” KCAA’s Director General Captain Gilbert Kibe said in a statement.
Recovery efforts were delayed for several hours since there are no boating services at the shallow lake.
The park senior warden Samuel Tokore said an accident in the waters was unforeseen thus the lack of a rescue unit.
“The only other incident that required disaster management was in 1963 when another plane crashed in the lake,” he said.
Tokore said the KWS has a boat based in Naivasha which only goes to the Lake Nakuru for water research.
A counseling tent was set up at the recovery site with experts from the Kenya Counseling and Psychological Association on standby.
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