15 Indians reportedly killed in Kenyan air crash

Nairobi/New Delhi, May 5 (UNI) Fifteen Indians were among 114 people reported killed when a Kenyan airliner, caught in bad weather, went missing near Southern Cameroon this morning shortly after take off.

Those killed included 105 passengers and nine crew. The Indians were among people from 23 nationalities, sources said.

The KQ 507 flight was reported missing after taking off from Douala. It crashed near Niete, north of the border with Equatorial Guinea, due to bad weather.

Reports said the 737-800 aircraft left Douala at 0005 Hrs local time (0635 IST) and was expected to land in Nairobi at 0615 Hrs.

(1245 IST).

According to Kenya airways, besides Indians, the others killed included 35 from Cameroon, 9 from Kenya (crew), 7 from South Africa, 6 each from China, Ivory Coast and Nigeria, 5 from Britain, three from Niger, two each from Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo and Equatorial Guinea, one each from Ghana, Sweden, Togo, Mali, Switzerland, Comoros, Egypt, Mauritius, Senegal, Congo, Tanzania, US and Burkina Faso. Six people could not be identified.

Officials in New Delhi could not immediately confirm whether any Indians were killed and said they were still awaiting information from the Indian High Commission in Nairobi.

An official of the Indian High Commission in Nairobi told UNI on phone that they had asked for information and the list of passengers from the Kenyan Airways and were still waiting for it.

The airline has opened a crisis management centre in Embakasi, Nairobi, to monitor the situation. A local passenger information centre has also been opened at Intercontinental Hotel.

The public enquiry numbers are : 3200353/3200354/3274349.

The public enquiry number for international passengers is +27 11 207-1100.

UNI