![Rescuers search through the wreckage at the site where a Kenyan medical plane crashed on the outskirts of Nairobi on August 7, 2025. [Simon Maina/AFP]](https://businessday.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/08/Untitled-design-2025-08-07T220536.191-1.png)
A tragic air accident has claimed the lives of at least six people after an air ambulance crashed into a residential building near the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, on Thursday afternoon.
The ill-fated aircraft, a Cessna Citation XLS operated by Amref Flying Doctors, had departed from Nairobi’s Wilson Airport at 2:17pm local time. It was en route to Somaliland when it came down in the residential area of Ruiru, in Kiambu County, just over 40 minutes later.
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“We have lost four people, including the pilot … it was all fatal,” Kiambu County Commissioner Henry Wafula confirmed, speaking from the crash site. “The house that it landed on … two people again also died,” he added, noting that two others on the ground were “seriously injured.”
Residents described a horrifying sequence of events as the plane plummeted from the sky. Tasha Wanjira, who witnessed the incident, told AFP the aircraft was already ablaze before impact. “The plane started burning while in the air,” she said.
Another local, Irene Wangui, said the aircraft flew so close it violently shook nearby buildings. “It passed by our building shaking it, and then there were body parts littered all over,” she recounted, visibly shaken.
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Images from the scene showed debris scattered across the area, with emergency responders from the Kenya Red Cross and other first responders working through the wreckage as onlookers gathered in stunned silence. Rescue efforts continued into the evening, as hundreds remained at the scene. Some residents wept openly, embracing each other for comfort.
“I have lost everything,” said Margaret Wairimu, a resident whose home was destroyed. “Thank God my children were not around.”
Amref Flying Doctors, the charity behind the aircraft, confirmed the loss in a statement. “We regret to confirm that one of our aircraft was involved in a fatal accident today,” said CEO Stephen Gitau. He added that the organisation was “cooperating fully with relevant aviation authorities and emergency response teams to establish the facts surrounding the situation.”
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Founded in 1957 as the Flying Doctors of East Africa, Amref has been a lifeline for thousands of patients in need of emergency medical evacuation across the continent. Based in Nairobi, the organisation is widely respected for its air ambulance services.
The cause of the crash remains unknown. Aviation authorities are expected to open an investigation immediately.
