Kenyan plane 'hit a pothole'
Nairobi - Aviation experts on Saturday began investigations to determine the cause of a plane crash in Kenya that killed Labour Minister Ahmad Mohamed Khalif and two pilots, as government officials who survived the crash recounted their ordeal.
Khalif (53) and two pilots were killed in the accident in Busia, near Kenya's border with Uganda, on Friday.
Ten survivors of the accident were admitted to Nairobi Hospital overnight, with two being taken to the intensive care unit and one taken to the high-dependency unit, surgeon J Mulimba told reporters.
The injured included Water Resources Minister Martha Karua, Minister of State in the Office of the Vice-President Linah Jebii Kilimo, Tourism and Information Minister Raphael Tuju, and member of parliament George Khaniri.
"I was among the last people to speak to the late Ahmad Mohamed Khalif," Tuju, who suffered chest and lung injuries in the crash, told reporters at Nairobi Hospital.
"He (Khalif) had delayed our flight for 10 minutes because he had gone to the mosque," said Tuju.
Rough runway
"I had a chat with the two pilots and I raised concern about the state of the runway. Two hundred metres of the one-kilometre runway was absolutely rough, but they assured me that everything would be okay. It was never to be," said Tuju, a former broadcaster.
Aviation experts has begun investigating the cause of the crash, police said.
"Accident experts from the aviation department are already at the crash site and investigations have started," said Western Provincial police officer Peter Kimanthi.
"The plane hit a pothole just before take-off, lost control, hit an electric pole and crashed into a house," National Security Minister Christopher Murungaru said.
The house, which was unoccupied, was destroyed when the plane fell on it, said a photographer.
The wreckage of Gulf Stream I twin-propeller plane was strewn over a 30-40m radius, about half a kilometre from the end of the runway, he said.
Fuel was still leaking from the two engines that were detached from the fuselage.
"I jumped out of the plane through the roof when the plane landed (crashed) and I walked to a road and got myself transport as the others were still being rescued," Tuju told reporters.
"I thought I was fine, however, when I reached the hospital I was coughing blood and having a lot of pain in my chest."
Went quiet
Kilimo, a noted women's rights campaigner, said: "At the time of the crash, I never knew what was happening because I was chatting with doctor (Wanjiru) Kihoro. Then we heard an impact. I thought the wheels had burst, but I heard people screaming and shouting."
"I prayed to God to save our lives. I heard Khalif scream 'I'm dying, I'm dying' and I told him 'No, don't say you are dying, say you are living'.
"He spoke about three times, then went quiet," she added.
The politicians were on their way back to Nairobi after attending a party in the rural residence of Home Affairs Minister Moody Awori when the accident happened.
Karua, who sustained multiple head injuries, several cuts and neck injuries, was operated on early on Saturday and was still in the hospital's high-dependency unit on Saturday afternoon, Mulimba said.
Junior justice minister Robinson Njeru Githae suffered back injuries and a fracture to the right hand, but was in good condition, said Mulimba.
Khaniri had head and abdominal injuries, but was in stable condition.
Martha Koome, the chair of the Kenyan chapter of the International Federation of Lawyers, and stewardess Josephine Mwangi suffered limb fractures and were responding well to treatment, the doctor said.
The most seriously injured passenger was Wanjiru Kihoro, the head of a non-governmental rural development organisation known as Abantu. She suffered a fractured skull and was still in the hospital's intensive-care unit on Saturday, doctors said. - Sapa-AFP