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Four People Killed After A Cargo Plane Crashes Into Shops In The Kenyan Capital

Four people onboard a cargo plane which crashed into a building in the Kenyan capital Nairobi are thought to have been killed.

Cover image via nbcnews.com

On 2 July, a cargo plane crashed into a commercial building in Nairobi, Kenya shortly after taking off from city's main airport

Security personnel stand at the site of the wreckage of a cargo plane that crashed into a commercial building on the Utawala estate on the outskirts of Kenya's capital Nairobi, July 2, 2014.

Image via rt.com

Four crewmen were killed on Wednesday when a plane carrying the stimulant khat crashed into a commercial building in the Kenyan capital Nairobi shortly after taking off, police said.

reuters.com

TV footage showed a charred tail and wings of the white Fokker 50 propeller plane ripped in half outside the smouldering two-storey building housing several shops

Security personnel secure the scene where a cargo plane crashed into a commercial building at the Utawala estate on the outskirts of Kenya's capital Nairobi, July 2, 2014.

Image via s-nbcnews.com

While two guards at the building were injured, the fact that the crash happened around 4 a.m. meant a worse toll was avoided. Four crew members onboard were killed.

Image via channel4.com

Kenyan media reported all four crew members, including a pilot and his assistant, were killed in the crash. "All four on board perished... it hit an electric post before crashing on a building and bursting into flames," a senior police officer told AFP.

cnn.com

The plane was transporting the mild stimulant known as Khat to the Somali capital, Mogadishu, said Joseph Ngisa, the airport's head of police investigations

The plane was understood to be carrying a cargo of the mild stimulant khat (pictured).

Image via channel4.com

According to preliminary investigations, the vehicle was flying low after takeoff and might have hit an electricity pole before the crash. Footage on TV caught the moment of crash displaying how the tail and wings of a white plane ripped in half outside a two-story building, reported Reuters.

rt.com

The airport was closed for "a few minutes as a matter of procedure," but has now reopened and “is operating normally,” said KAA security chief Eric Kiraithe. Jomo Kenyatta International Airport is the Kenyan capital's main airport, the busiest in East Africa.

reuters.com

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