Helicopter crash kills Kenyan gov’t minister, 5 others outside Nairobi

NAIROBI, Kenya – Kenya’s internal security minister was killed with five other people in a helicopter crash near the Kenyan capital on Sunday, the vice-president said.

Minister George Saitoti and his deputy, Orwa Ojode, were among those killed when a police helicopter crashed on the outskirts of Nairobi, Vice-President Kalonzo Musyoka said.

Two pilots and two bodyguards were also killed in the crash, officials said.

The victims charred remains were scattered in a forest near Nairobi.

The death of Saitoti is a “great tragedy that has befallen our country at this time as we are making elaborate preparations to hold peaceful elections,” Prime Minister Raila Odinga said at the scene of the crash.

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It was not immediately clear what caused the accident. Kenyan police cordoned off the scene of the crash and said they were investigating.

“As we speak now, nobody knows the cause of the accident,” Odinga said. “Nobody knows, and that’s why the experts are going to carry out investigations.” He said that Saitoti and Ojode were on their way to a political event in eastern Kenya.

Saitoti, an American-trained economist and mathematician, was one of the most visible figures in Kenyan politics. For over a decade he was a deputy to former President Daniel arap Moi.

As security minister he was the government’s spokesman on security matters including Kenya’s decision to send troops to Somalia last year. Analysts say he played a key role in that decision. Saitoti appeared often on national television to reassure the public in the aftermath of deadly attacks blamed on the Somali militant group al-Shabab.

Saitoti announced last year that he would seek the Kenyan presidency in 2013.

Odinga said the helicopter crash on Sunday morning bore similarity to an incident four years ago in which two Kenyan Cabinet ministers died in a plane crash.