Five Americans, Ecuador intelligence chief killed in helicopter crash in Kenya

By Jennifer Hansler, CNN

(CNN) — Five Americans and the director general of Ecuador’s intelligence agency died in a helicopter crash in Kenya on Wednesday.

There were seven people on board the aircraft when it crashed on Wednesday morning at Mount Ololokwe in central Kenya, according to the country’s civil aviation authority. It was carrying guests from the luxury tour agency &Beyond, according to helicopter operator Lady Lori Helicopters, which said the cause of the crash has not been determined.

Michele Sensi-Contugi, the director general of Ecuador’s intelligence agency, and his wife, fashion designer Stephany Sensi, were killed in the crash, according to Ecuador’s state media. The American Spanish-language television company Telemundo said its executive José Suárez was also among those killed in the crash.

Ecuador’s presidential office offered condolences to Sensi-Contugi’s family in a post on Wednesday afternoon.

“The US Embassy is in touch with local authorities and is providing consular assistance,” said a State Department spokesperson, who confirmed the deaths of the five Americans. “We extend our deepest condolences to the families and loved ones on their loss.”

Video circulating on social media appears to show smoke rising from the base of a mountain, where the helicopter is believed to have crashed.

The Kenyan Red Cross said earlier Wednesday that “search and recovery efforts are ongoing, hampered by difficult terrain access and an active fire at the crash site.”

“An additional team has been dispatched from Isiolo to reinforce the operation,” it said in a post on X.

The aircraft, a Eurocopter EC130 B4, was flying from the Loisaba wildlife conservancy to the Ewaso Ngiro river when it crashed, the civil aviation authority said.

The helicopter, made by Airbus Helicopters but originally developed by Eurocopter, is a single-engine craft with a max speed of about 178 mph (286 kph) and can carry five to seven people and one pilot.

Kenya’s Transport Ministry is investigating.

This is a developing story and will be updated.

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CNN’s Abel Alvarado, Michael Rios and Alexandra Skores contributed to this report.