Aid plane crashes in Kenya, all on board survive

Nairobi, Dec 30: A Kenyan plane carrying aid and fuel to neighbouring Somalia crashed and burst into flames today, but officials said all three crew survived.

The twin-engine Buffalo plane chartered by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) went down five minutes after taking off from Nairobi's Jomo Kenyatta international airport.

''We cannot imagine how they are still alive,'' ICRC official Jean Claude Chesaux said of the crew. ''The aircraft is in pieces.

There is nothing left.'' Airport police chief Beatrice Nduta said the plane, which was carrying more than a dozen fuel drums, suffered engine problems. It snapped power lines as it crashed in a residential area, but no one on the ground was injured, officials said.

The crew were not badly hurt, Chesaux told Reuters.

REUTERS