A plane carrying tourists in Kenya crashed and burst into flames on Tuesday en route to a world-famous wilderness reserve — killing all 11 people on board, authorities said.
The small aircraft slammed into a hilly and wooded area about 25 miles from Diani, a popular coastal town, authorities in the East African nation said.
Witnesses heard a loud bang and found the charred wreckage, along with unrecognizable human remains, at the scene of the crash.
Kenyan officials inspect the scene of the deadly plane crash near Diani, Kenya, on Oct. 28, 2025. APThe Cessna Caravan-type aircraft was en route to the Maasai Mara National Reserve, carrying eight Hungarian and two German passengers, when it crashed at around 5:30 a.m. local time, killing all passengers on board, including the Kenyan pilot, the airline, Mombasa Air Safari, said in a statement.
“Sadly, there are no survivors,” the airline said in a statement.
The exact cause of the crash remains under investigation, but poor weather conditions and heavy rain were reported at the crash scene by rescue teams.
“The weather here is not very good at the moment. It has been raining since the early hours of this morning and it is very foggy,” the Kwale County Commissioner Stephen Orinde told BBC News.
The pilot failed to communicate with airport traffic control upon departure, and they tried to reach him for 30 minutes before the plane was located, the airline said.
All 11 people aboard the plane carrying tourists were killed. APAn emergency response team has been mobilized by the company to work alongside local authorities, Mombasa Air Safari CEO John Cleave said.
“Our hearts and prayers are with everyone affected by this tragic event,” the statement concluded.
Kenya has fallen below the global average in accident investigation, according to the most recent safety oversight audit for the country posted on the International Civil Aviation Organization website from 2018.
In August, six people were killed and two were injured after a light aircraft belonging to the medical charity Amref crashed on the outskirts of the Kenyan capital, Nairobi.
Unrecognizable human remains were found at the crash site. REUTERSThe aircraft involved in Tuesday’s crash was a Cessna 208B Grand Caravan with the registration “5Y-CCA.”It was built in 2007 and is considered reliable, according to a report in the Kenyan news outlet the Star.
Maasai Mara National Reserve is around a two-hour flight from Diani, a popular safari tourist destination known for its white sandy beaches along the Indian Ocean.
The reserve attracts huge numbers of tourists every year to witness the annual wildebeest migration from the Serengeti in neighboring Tanzania.
With Post wires
