Gen Ogolla plane crash probe starts as Kenya Airforce, DCI officials land in site
The late Chief of Defence Forces, General Francis Omondi Ogolla.
What you need to know:
- The investigators arrived at the scene of the Thursday evening chopper crash at Sindar, Kaben in Marakwet East at 10:40 am in a military helicopter and began analysing the debris of the ill-fated plane.
- The silent Sindar area along the border of West Pokot and Elgeyo Marakwet commonly known as Land of Peace, bringing together members of the warring Pokot and Marakwet communities was put under military surveillance.
A Kenya Airforce air accident investigations team as well as detectives attached to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) have landed at the site where Chief of Defense Forces Francis Ogolla and nine other officers perished after a crash.
On Friday, detectives from Kenya Defense Forces commenced investigations into the cause of the plane crash that killed General Ogolla and nine others as Kenyans continued to speculate on the cause of the mishap that shook the country.
The investigators arrived at the scene of the Thursday evening chopper crash at Sindar, Kaben in Marakwet East at 10:40 am in a military helicopter and began analysing the debris of the ill-fated plane.
They immediately sealed the scene and ordered members of the public and the media to keep off the area.“Move away from this area and wait for a briefing from our bosses at Department of Defense headquarters,” said one of the officers.
The silent Sindar area along the border of West Pokot and Elgeyo Marakwet commonly known as Land of Peace, bringing together members of the warring Pokot and Marakwet communities was put under military surveillance.
"The land has been turned into a military camp following the plane crash. We however managed to rescue some of the injured officers before being told to keep off the area,” said Gregory Bowen, one of the residents.
Military helicopters have been flying landing and taking off the thicket since the Thursday plane crash.
Three military helicopters had landed at the scene on Friday as members of the public watched from a distance.
The first chopper arrived at the scene at around 10:40 am followed with another one at around midday. Four of the injured officers were taken to Endo Mission Health Center for emergency first aid but one of them succumbed on arrival.
The three were attended to at the facility before they were airlifted by military helicopter to Nairobi.
"We received four of the survivors. One of them succumbed upon arrival at the hospital while another one had more than 90 percent burns.
"We treated them according to our ability before transferring them to a nearby school using our ambulance into awaiting chopper that airlifted them to Nairobi, “said Ann Koskei a clinical officer at the health center.
According to Ms Kosgei, the victims were rushed to the hospital at around 3 pm on Thursday. Kaben Locational chief Kerionon Tarus regretted that the incident is likely to curtail efforts by the government to restore peace in the area.
"The military officers have done a great job restoring peace and rebuilding schools and other infrastructures. This incident is likely to water down all those efforts,” said Chief Tarus.
Past air investigations have not yielded much in the past, with questions over how and why recommendations are not implemented.
Former Internal Security Cabinet Minister George Saitoti and Assistant Minister Orwa Ojode died in an aircraft crash that killed six people in 2012 while in April 2006, 14 people died when a military plane transporting politicians including Cabinet Minister Bonaya Godana went down in Marsabit.
Former Labour Cabinet Minister Ahmed Khalif died in a plane crash in Busia in 2002.Former Roads minister Kipkalya Kones also died in a plane crash.
Despite investigating teams going to the accident sites and gathering additional information from outside of the accident scenes such as flight logs, maintenance records and personal interviews, nothing much is heard about the findings to help prevent future accidents.
