Six people were killed aboard a Kenyan plane which crashed Monday in Somalia where it carried out a humanitarian mission, announced on Tuesday May 5 the Kenyan ministry for the Foreign affairs which judged "unclear" the circumstances of the accident and asked Somalia for a "quick investigation" .
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The Kenyan private cargo plane - an Embraer 120 - was carrying supplies as part of the fight against the coronavirus pandemic when it crashed Monday afternoon in the Bardale district of southern Somalia, a said the ministry. Six people were on board for a short flight from Baidoa to Bardale, some 300 kilometers northwest of the Somali capital Mogadishu, authorities said. “The plane was about to land on the Bardale runway when it crashed and caught fire. The six people on board died in the accident, " Abdulahi Isack, a local police official, told AFP by phone.
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Kenya has asked Somalia " to investigate this matter quickly and thoroughly because it is impacting humanitarian operations at a time when needs are paramount". "The incident happened in unclear circumstances , " said the foreign ministry in a statement, offering its condolences to the families of the deceased.
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The jihadist group Al-Shabaab is active in southern Somalia, but the area where the crash occurred in Bardale is under the control of the government and Ethiopian troops of the international force deployed by the African Union (AU). . Major General Mohammed Tessema, spokesman for the Ethiopian national defense force, said he had no information about the crash.
The Somali Ministry of Transport and Civil Aviation said in a statement that it "deeply regrets" and that the government is carrying out a "thorough investigation" . The ministry added that the plane was operated by African Express, headquartered in Nairobi.
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