12 killed in Kenya plane crash

A Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) team who trekked up to the crash site said they had seen the bodies of four children and recovered eight US passports.

"All people are dead. It's a real mess. The plane exploded and it is scattered all over the area," Bongo Woodley, senior warden in the Mount Kenya region for the KWS, told Reuters.

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The crash also killed the two South African pilots.

The South African-registered plane was flying over the 17,000-foot (5,182-metre) mountain, 70 miles (112 km) north of the Kenyan capital Nairobi when the accident occurred.

The dead tourists were believed to belong to three families, a Kenya Airports Authority official who did not want to be named told Reuters.

"Most likely we have three families on board based on the names which we have," the official said. He said at least five of the dead were women.

Peter Wakahia, chief inspector of accidents with the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority, told Reuters: "There were two South African pilots and 12 American passengers."