Kenya plane with 55 people crashes

Several passengers sustain injuries, rushed to various hospitals in capital Nairobi, Kenyan officials say

By Andrew Wasike

NAIROBI, Kenya (AA) – A Kenyan plane operated by Silverstone Air company crashed while taking off on Friday morning.

The police and Kenya Airport Authority (KAA) officials said that several passengers had sustained injuries and rushed to various hospitals across the Kenyan capital Nairobi.

"The Aircraft Accident Investigations Directorate, under the Ministry of Transport, Infrastructure, Housing, and Urban Development, is carrying out investigations to establish the cause of the accident," said a statement by KAA.

In an aviation disaster in Ethiopia this March, 157 people -- mostly Kenyans -- died after a Boeing 737 MAX 8 plane crashed six minutes after take-off.

KAA manages four international, and four domestic airports in the country as well as several airstrips. The main airports managed by the country's airport authority are Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, Moi International Airport, Eldoret International Airport and Kisumu International Airport.

All the airports handled a total of 8 million passengers in 2012, and the flagship currently handles 6 million passengers annually.

Kaynak: