A single mother has narrated the last moments of her 12-year-old daughter, who was killed after a light aircraft belonging to AMREF Flying Doctors crashed in a residential area in Mwihoko, Kiambu County.
The crash, which occurred on Thursday, August 7, in the afternoon, claimed six lives, including two doctors, two nurses, and two members of the public who were at the scene.
The aircraft, Cessna Citation XLS, registration 5Y-FDM, was headed to Somalia and had four people on board at the time it went down under unclear circumstances.
Speaking to the media, Mercy Nafula, the mother of 12-year-old Yvonne Nasimiyu, recounted how her daughter lost her life in the tragedy shortly after returning home from a salon.
“I was not at home; I had gone to look for a livelihood. My daughter left in the morning to go to the salon with my two other children and my sister. When they started having their hair braided, the older one was told to go home and cook,” she said.
“In that process, the incident happened, and I found my daughter inside. I have raised my children on my own, struggling as a single mother. Now I am devastated and don’t know where to start or end because everything was destroyed — my children’s birth certificates and even my business clothes.”
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Mother Recalls Last Moments of Daughter
She appealed for support to give her daughter a befitting send-off and to help her rebuild her life so she can continue providing for her other children.
“The accident has already happened. I thank God that the other children are safe because if they had returned home to cook lunch, I would have been left alone. I don’t know His plans,” she said.
“I am asking for your help so that I can bury my child,” she added.
In another instance, a widow recounted how her husband, who was at home at the time, lost his life when the incident occurred.
“I came home and found that a plane had crashed near my house. I found my husband already dead, as he usually stayed in the house because of his illness,” the widow said.
Speaking on the incident, AMREF Flying Doctors CEO Stephen Gitau said the aircraft took off from Wilson Airport at 2.17 PM en route to Hargeisa, Somalia, before it crashed in Mwihoko.
“At this time, we are cooperating fully with relevant aviation authorities and emergency response teams to establish the facts surrounding the situation,” he added.
Also Read: Aircraft Crashes on a Building in Mwihoko
Preliminary findings by the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority (KCAA) showed that the AMREF Flying Doctors aircraft departed Wilson Airport (HKNW) at 2:14 p.m. local time, heading to Hargeisa, Somalia.
Radio and radar contact with Air Traffic Control was lost just three minutes later, at 2:17 p.m. On board were four crew members and medical personnel. The plane crashed near Mwihoko Secondary School in Utawala.
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