Many Injured as Military Chopper Crashes in Wajir While Taking Off

Officials are investigating an incident in which an unknown number of people who were on board a military chopper were injured when it crashed moments after take off from Buna hospital in Wajir North. 

The Mi17 Kenya air force chopper was badly damaged after it dropped to the ground as the pilot tried to lift off Monday afternoon.

Police said the pilot and his team had dropped relief food in the area and were leaving when the incident happened at about 4pm.

The tragedy was captured by locals who were present.

It showed the chopper take off and later lost momentum before coming down.

The injured who included the crew were rushed to the local hospital.

The incident came hours after a similar one happened at the Wajir airport injuring three.

The pilot and two others including a local Member of County Assembly were injured and later airlifted to Nairobi.

The cause of the crash of the chopper whose registration was 5Y-SDL was not immediately established.

Images from the scene showed the chopper badly damaged.

On November 9, two Kenya Defence Forces pilots were  admitted in hospital after their chopper crashed in Kisamis area, Kajiado West.

This is after a Kenya Air Force, Fennec helicopter hit a power cable as it flew to Nairobi.

Officials said the incident happened on November 9 evening and was kept under the radar.

The chopper was badly damaged after the crash as military officials rushed to the scene to secure it.

It was later removed from the scene as investigations go on.

This is the second such Fennec helicopter to crash in four months.