Kenya Mourns Defence Chief Killed In Helicopter Crash

Kenya began three days of mourning on Friday after its defence chief and nine other senior officers were killed in a helicopter crash, the latest military accident involving a high-profile figure

Nairobi, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 19th Apr, 2024) Kenya began three days of mourning on Friday after its defence chief and nine other senior officers were killed in a helicopter crash, the latest military accident involving a high-profile figure.

General Francis Omondi Ogolla, Chief of the Kenya Defence Forces (CDF), was killed when his helicopter went down shortly after takeoff in a remote forested area of northwestern Kenya on Thursday.

"A distinguished four-star general has fallen in the course of duty and service of the country," President William Ruto said as he announced the deaths that evening.

He said the Air Force had dispatched an investigation team to establish the cause of the accident.

Ruto condoled with Ogolla's family at a ceremony in Nairobi on Friday as the nation began observing the mourning period, with the Kenyan flag flying at half-mast across the country and at missions abroad.

"Yesterday was truly a very, very tragic day," the president said. "This is a big loss to the country because General Ogolla made a whole difference in the security of the country."

The family said in a statement that a funeral would be held Sunday at Ogolla's home in Siaya in the west of the country, followed by a memorial service in a Nairobi suburb on April 26.

"Final salute" was the front-page headline in the leading Daily Nation newspaper.

The bodies of the victims, draped in Kenyan flags, were returned to a military base in Nairobi on an air force plane late Thursday.

One of the officers, Brigadier Swale Saidi, was buried in the Indian Ocean town of Kilifi on Friday and other funerals are expected in the coming days.