Two Uganda soldiers dead in Kenya’s chopper crash

• Two bodies were found, one still strapped on the seat and another a few metres away.
• Fate of five who were aboard the choppers remains unknown while eight others were rescued Tuesday.
• Four helicopters took off from Nanyuki on Sunday 4.20pm but three went down due to bad weather barely 30 minutes later.

Two Ugandan airforce soldiers have been confirmed dead in the helicopter crash in Mount Kenya as eight more of their colleagues were rescued Tuesday.

However, the fate of five people who were aboard the choppers remains unknown. Seven soldiers were rescued on Monday.

According to the KWS Senior Warden in charge of Mount Kenya, Mr Simon Gitau, a search and rescue team found wreckages of two helicopters barely a kilometre from where another wreckage was found on Monday.

“We found two bodies, one of the pilot which was still strapped on the seat, and another a few metres away. The helicopter was burnt to ashes in the middle part,” said Mr Gitau.

The eight survivors were from a chopper that was found overturned at a valley.

The Laikipia airbase commander Brigadier Francis Ogolla said that the four helicopters had taken off from Nanyuki on Sunday at 4.20pm but the three had gone down in bad weather barely 30 minutes later.

cmwaniki@ke.nationmedia.com