Environment Principal Secretary Festus Ng’eno survived a helicopter crash in Kericho on Monday, one of five people injured when a Kenya Forest Service (KFS) aircraft went down while taking off from the Kericho Golf Club.

The helicopter, registration 5Y-FSK, came down on the golf club grounds near Famous Hotel and was badly damaged. Photographs from the scene show the wreckage on a grassy field, with the tail section severed from the main body of the aircraft.

Kericho County Police Commander Kivindu Kilonzo confirmed that several occupants were hurt and taken to hospital in stable condition. No deaths had been reported at the time of the initial police assessment.

Emergency responders and security teams were deployed to the scene to assess the situation and establish what happened.

Authorities have not yet established what caused the crash, and investigations are expected to determine why the helicopter went down during take-off.