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NAIROBI – Kenya on Tuesday called for an urgent investigation into the fatal crash of a private cargo plane in Somalia amid unconfirmed reports that it may have been shot down.
The plane belonged to African Express Airways and was carrying supplies for use in fighting the coronavirus when it crashed in the city of Bardale, in the southern region of the Bay, killing six crew members.
“The Government of the Republic of Kenya urges the Federal Government of Somalia and International Agencies to quickly and thoroughly investigate the matter because it impacts humanitarian operations at the time of greatest need,” said a statement from the Kenyan Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
A second statement said Somali President Mohamed Abdullahi, nicknamed Farmajo, had ordered Somali civil aviation authorities to work with Kenya on their investigation.
“President Farmajo invited the Kenyan civil aviation authorities to team up with his Somali counterparts in order to complete the investigations expeditiously,” said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The al-Qaeda-linked insurgency in Somalia, al-Shabaab, has a presence in the area where the plane fell, though the city of Bardale in the southern Bay region, and its airfield is underwritten by Somali forces and Ethiopian troops.
Somalia’s transport minister Mohamed Salad declined to speculate on the cause of the crash on Monday, but a former defense minister told Reuters he had spoken to a witness at the airfield who said he could have been shot down.
The Ethiopian army spokesman said Monday that he was unaware of the accident.
The al-Shabaab group was not immediately available for comment.
(Reporting by Duncan Miriri; Writing by George Obulutsa; Editing by Katharine Houreld, William Maclean)
