George Saitoti, Kenya Internal Security Minister, Dead In Helicopter Crash Near Nairobi

NAIROBI - Professor George Saitoti, a senior Kenyan cabinet minister and his deputy were killed when a police helicopter crashed into a forest just outside the capital and burst into flames, local television stations said on Sunday.

Prime Minister Raila Odinga's spokesman said Odinga had been informed of the deaths of internal security minister Saitoti and his deputy, Orwa Ojode.

The Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka has arrived at the scene of the crash and confirmed the deaths of Saitoti, Ojode, bodyguards and pilot.

Saitoti became Kenya’s longest sitting vice-president serving for 13 years under President Daniel arap Moi between May 1989 and December 1997 with a break between 1997 and 1999 and again between April 1999 and August 2002.

At the same time, he served as Minister for Finance.

The police helicopter carrying him and assistant minister for internal security Ojode exploded and crashed in the Kibiku area of Ngong forest killing them both.

Born August 3 1945, Saitoti has died aged 66.

Saitoti was also a presidential candidate in an election expected to be held by March next year.

A Reuters photographer counted three charred bodies at the scene of the crash in a forest in the Ngong area just outside of Nairobi.

Debris of the burnt-out blue police helicopter were strewn in the brush where government officials and curious locals jostled to catch a glimpse.

It was not immediately clear what caused the crash. More people were feared to have been on board the helicopter.

Saitoti, an ally of President Mwai Kibaki, was the leading government voice against Somali militants al Shabaab, often visiting the scenes of grenade attacks inside Kenya and vowing the east African nation would crush the group.

Kenya's troops have been fighting al Shabaab in neighbouring Somalia since last October. The militants have killed several people in a string of grenade attacks in Nairobi, the far north and the coast in retaliation to Kenya's moves against them.

Source: Reuters

3 bodies retrieved, 9 missing in Mlolongo building tragedy

Three more bodies were on Sunday recovered and eight others were rescued from the rubble of a collapsed building in Mlolongo, Mavoko.

One person was confirmed dead on Saturday evening when the tragedy occurred as the four-storey building that was still under construction collapsed trapping several people who were going about their business on the ground and first floors that were already complete.

According to Kenya Red Cross, nine people are still missing and operations are underway to rescue them.

The rescue team that was headed by the Kenya Army used a special binoculars to detect any bodies trapped under the debris following fears that more people could have been trapped after it was reported that some victims could be heard crying for help from under the debris.

Police cordoned off the area as hundreds of curious onlookers, among them desperate relatives and friends of the victims milled around to get information on the latest developments.

However, area MP Wavinya Ndeti blamed the Municipal Council of Mavoko for the tragedy saying it erred by allowing dubious contractors the permission to put up the structure.

“It is pretty obvious that this was a dubious contractor and the Municipality of Mavoko is to blame. They ought to thoroughly peruse papers of contractors before giving them the green light to construct,” she said at the site of the tragedy.

The ill-fated building that caved-in was being built without a fourth wall as the contactor hoped to benefit from that of an adjacent building to provide the crucial pillar.

But Mavoko Mayor Johnson Makau defended the Council saying it was not their duty to follow up Contractors once they approve them.

“The Council has done no wrong because we do not follow up the Contractors. Once we peruse their documents and find them qualified, we can only imagine they are going to follow the requirements,” he said.

The collapsed building was already operational on the ground and first floors and several people who were trapped are said to have been working at a Supermarket, a motorcycle spare shop and a hotel.

Cases of buildings collapsing in Nairobi and its environs have since been on the increase and only last Friday evening, Red Cross reported that 10 people were injured when a building under construction off Mombasa Road caved-in.

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