SIAYA- A chopper that had flown ODM leader Raila Odinga to a function attended by President Uhuru Kenyatta on Sunday, May 30 crashed as it tried to take off.
The helicopter had dropped the former Prime Minister at Kudho Primary School in Gem, Siaya County when it went down as it tried to lift.
Odinga’s spokesperson Dennis Onyango said the helicopter, Bell 407 registration 5Y-PSM, had dropped Odinga and was trying to create space for other choppers when it crashed.
He said the ODM leader was safe and had left the plane by the time of the incident.
“The former PM is safe following an incident in which a chopper that had flown him from Kisumu to Gem in Siaya County crashed shortly after dropping him and his entourage of four people,” Onyango said in a statement.
According to Onyango said the pilot, and those who were on board escaped with minor injuries.
The chopper’s captain Julius Mwambanga explained that the helicopter crashed as he tried to take off moments after dropping the former Prime Minister who had accompanied President Kenyatta to the area to commission various projects.
He said the helicopter went down after reaching five meters above ground and landed on the left side.
The cause for the crash is yet to be established.
Mor to follow…
Edited from The Standard
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