A helicopter crashed on Wednesday at a tourist destination in northern Kenya, killing five Americans and a senior government official from Ecuador, the authorities said.
The Kenya Civil Aviation Authority said the crash happened about 9 a.m. at Mount Ololokwe in Samburu County, a rural and arid area that attracts tourists to its national park and wildlife conservancies.
The crash occurred as the helicopter, a Eurocopter, was flying to Ewaso Nyiro River, the site of several upmarket wildlife tourist camps, the aviation authority said.
“We confirm the deaths of five Americans,” a U.S. State Department spokesperson said in a statement that gave no details about the identities of the victims.
Ecuador’s presidential office said in a statement on social media that the country’s director of national intelligence, Michele Sensi-Contugi, and his wife, Stephany Hollihan, had also died in the crash.
Kenya’s transport ministry was investigating the cause of the crash, according to the aviation authority, whose statement did not address the fate of the helicopter crew.
The Kenya Red Cross said that it was assisting in the search and recovery efforts but that they were being hampered by an “active fire at the crash site” and the difficult terrain.
Tourism is a mainstay of Kenya’s economy. Many visitors tour the country in vans or modified off-road vehicles. Others are lured by the prospect of traveling from luxury camp to luxury camp in private planes or helicopters.
Tourism companies offer helicopter rides to the flat summit of Mount Ololokwe to watch the sunrise and eat breakfast.