Kenyan lawmaker among 6 dead in helicopter crash

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NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — A member of parliament was among six people who died after a helicopter crashed in Kenya on Saturday in what police described as bad weather.

The helicopter went down minutes after takeoff and burst into flames in a hilly area of Nandi County in the west of the country, police chief Samuel Mukuusi said, adding all six people on board had died. Among the dead was lawmaker Johana Ng’eno.

Mukuusi said an investigations into the cause of the crash had begun.

Kenya's civil aviation authority is yet to comment on the incident.

Parliament Speaker Moses Wetang’ula eulogized Ng’eno as a “devoted legislator and a committed servant of the people.”

The 54-year-old legislator was serving his third term and was re-elected in 2022 on a ruling party ticket.