Ugandan helicopter crash: Two dead and others missing after helicopters crash into Kenya's highest mountain

Home Top

Woman whose husband died of a heroin overdose after falling out of rehab smiles for a photo by his casket with their two young children 'to show the reality of addiction' and the price of a relapse
EXCLUSIVE: 'Sherri Shepherd betrayed me - and her baby.' Surrogate lashes out at The View star for turning her back on now one-year-old Lamar Jr who is growing up without a mom
Professor killed at Delta State University in Mississippi after 'active shooter' reports spark lockdown
The Hobbit Orc actor Manu Bennett arrested and charged with assault following altercation at Texas Comic Con
Apple reveals record setting preorders for iPhone 6s as says it expects to sell more than 10 MILLION in one weekend
'We are back in America': ISIS releases chilling new video on 9/11 anniversary where extremists threaten new attacks on the US
Mother at the center of El Salvador baby swap 'blunder' hits back at 'mad' claims it is a compensation scam to sue hospital
FBI investigating after body of 59-year-old woman who fell overboard from luxury cruise ship washes ashore
Harvard sophomore, 18, dies 'suddenly and unexpectedly' less than two weeks into fall semester but no foul play is suspected
Arnold Schwarzenegger is named as new host of Celebrity Apprentice
America's new top model reignites fashion week row over 'anorexia chic': Star, 18, is already on dangerous 'thinspiration' sites
Dozens of tourists evacuated after Japan's Mount Aso erupts, sending huge plume of ash one MILE into the sky
Historically black Ohio college permanently removes scandal-hit Bill Cosby's name from communications building
Woman, 46, lives next door to man for 10 years and then remembers that he had allegedly sexually abused her 40 years ago
Google gets set to mass produce self driving cars: Firm hires ex-Hyundai CEO to head up autonomous vehicle project
The real life Tarzan: Incredible story of the son of a princess who dropped out of society 60 years ago and survived by slaying crocodiles and boars with his bare hands in the Australian outback
Trump trails Hillary by just THREE points in a head-to-head match-up as The Donald and Ben Carson now control more than half the GOP
Clooney says history will 'laugh' at Trump: Movie star takes aim at The Donald over his 'idiotic' Mexican immigrant comments
Scott Walker blames Obama's 'absence of leadership' for recent attacks on cops and says the president must speak out against anti-police rhetoric
Planned Parenthood in crosshairs of House GOP as lawmakers consider cutting off federal funds to controversial group
Donald Trump unloads his share of Miss Universe organization just three days after buying out NBC
Miss America gets political: Beauty pageant contestants quizzed on their views and back Planned Parenthood, bash Donald Trump, and want ELLEN on the $10 bill - but one spoke against assault rifle ban
Tearful 'Shawshank' prison worker breaks her silence claiming she helped inmates escape because they threatened her family - and says she was forced into sex act by killer fugitive
Could YOU ditch sugar like Kate Hudson? Make these 20 simple swaps to your diet without the Hollywood budget

Russian-built Mi-24 'Hind' gunships were en-route to Somalia to fight al-Qaida-linked militants
Rescue workers continue to search for at least seven soldiers and airmen who remain unaccounted for

Published: 11:09 EST, 14 August 2012 | Updated: 04:24 EST, 15 August 2012

View
comments

Two people have been killed and at least seven others remain missing after three Ugandan helicopter gunships crashed into Kenya's highest mountain in bad weather.

The Russian-built Mi-24 'Hind' helicopters were travelling to Somalia to help fight al-Qaida-linked militants when they crashed on Sunday.

Rescue workers today recovered two dead bodies and continue to search for at least seven soldiers and airmen around the crash sites in the rugged landscape of Mount Kenya.

Scroll down for video

Survivor: Lt. Col. Chris Kasiji, a senior Ugandan air force pilot lies next to the wreckage of his helicopter which crashed into Kenya's highest mountain on Sunday

Simon Gitau, deputy warden of Mt. Kenya National Park, said rescue workers saw two bodies outside of one helicopter that crashed and burned. He said he did not know if other bodies were inside the wreckage.

'We did not search through the wreckage because it was still burning and smoldering,' Gitau said.
Five personnel were rescued from a second crash site discovered on Tuesday, Gitau said.

A third Ugandan military helicopter that crashed was found on Monday and the occupants rescued.

No one was killed in that crash that wrecked the aircraft beyond repair and only one injury was reported.

Wreckage: Three heavily armed Russian-built MI-24 'Hind' gunships crashed in rugged terrain on Sunday

A total of four Ugandan military helicopters were en route to Somalia to fight al-Qaida-linked militants

Search-and-rescue teams reached one of the crash sites Tuesday at around 12,000 feet up Mount Kenya, said Brigadier Francis Ogolla, the commander of Kenya's Laikipia Air Base near Mount Kenya. He told a press conference that the other helicopter was spotted from the air at the edge of a cliff.

Ogolla said the helicopters had taken off in formation from Laikipia Air Base at around 4:50 p.m. on Sunday en route to the northern Kenya town of Garissa, where the helicopters were to refuel before proceeding to Somalia.

Rescue teams searching for survivors in the aftermath of the crashes of three Ugandan helicopter gunships on Kenya's highest mountain

One hour later only one helicopter landed in Garissa and the pilot said he had lost communication with the other three, Ogolla said.

Weather around Mount Kenya- Africa's second tallest peak at 5,199 meters (17,057 feet) - can be erratic. Heavy clouds and wind would be common this time of year, with precipitation coming in the form of rain or snow.

The three helicopters that crashed were Mi-24 gunships. The fourth helicopter that landed safely was an Mi-17.

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni ordered an investigation to be led by his brother - a retired army general - in a sign of how serious Ugandan authorities are taking the loss of lives.

Neither Kenyan nor Ugandan authorities could yet say why three of four military helicopters making the trip crashed. Ugandan officials said preliminary information indicated that bad weather was responsible.

Mount Kenya - Africa's second-highest peak - has been shrouded in clouds even as rescuers tried to locate the wreckage from Sunday's crashes.

One point to be investigated will be whether the pilots took the wrong flight path. Concerns were raised in Uganda that the well-trained crew flew too close to Mount Kenya. A Ugandan official insisted that there was nothing wrong with the helicopters.

Rescue workers tend to a survivor at one of the crash sites approximately 12,000 feet up Mount Kenya

Bad weather was reported around Mount Kenya- Africa's second tallest peak at 17,057 feet at the time of the crash

Bad weather was reported around Mount Kenya- Africa's second tallest peak - at the time of the crash

The three helicopters that crashed were Russian made Mi-24 gunships. A fourth helicopter that landed safely was an Mi-17 transporter

'They were inspected... and found to be airworthy,' Jeje Odongo, Uganda's deputy minister of defense, said of the Russian Mi-24 helicopters.

Odongo said that all the crew had been trained by the U.N. and that 'they all passed the competence tests' before flying out of Uganda.

Odongo said the trip to Somalia had been planned three months in advance and that the aircraft have been used over the years for missions, including the hunt for the notorious rebel leader Joseph Kony, the leader of the Lord's Resistance Army.

Kenyan wildlife rangers and army soldiers carry a dead body from one of the crash sites

A Ugandan government spokesman said the trip to Somalia had been planned three months in advance. He insisted the helicopters were in good condition and had recently passed safety tests

The unexplained crashes will set back efforts by a multinational African force to battle Islamist militant group, al-Shabab, which is linked to al-Qaida.

The U.N. Security Council in February approved funds for nine transport helicopters and three attack helicopters to be used by African Union forces in Somalia. The AU troops have been fighting al-Shabab for years without the use of helicopters. The Ugandan military forms the bulk of the African Union forces in Somalia.

Ugandan and Burundian forces pushed al-Shabab out of Mogadishu about a year ago. Helicopters will further aid their counterinsurgency efforts.

Kenya and Burundi have also dispatched to troops to fight al-Shabab, which neighboring countries view as a regional threat.

The Islamist militants are now concentrated in the southern coast town of Kismayo, which is likely to be the next scene of serious fighting.

Somalia has not had a stable government since 1991, when longtime dictator Siad Barre was ousted by warlords who then turned on each other.

VIDEO: Kenyan Brigadier Francis Ogola talks about the situation on the ground...