Chief of Defence Forces General Julius Karangi released flight details of the ill-fated Uganda military helicopters, saying they were in touch with the aircraft until after fueling in Nanyuki.

Chief of Defence Forces General Julius Karangi

He said Kenya Defence Forces was aware the four helicopters were transiting Kenyan airspace and made all necessary arrangements for a safe flight. General Karangi said normal formalities and clearance were granted to Uganda and even plans made for refueling en-route to Mogadishu, Somalia. “Those helicopters could not fly direct to Mogadishu and had to make stopovers for refuelling,” said Karangi.

CREW STILL MISSING

“The last reported stop-over for fuelling was in Nanyuki, and our officer was there but only one helicopter made it to Garissa on Sunday,” said the General. He said KDF learnt of the missing three aircraft at 5pm when one of the soldiers in the helicopters made a distress call using his mobile phone. Karangi confirmed one was completely burnt and the other was hanging off a cliff.

“We are not sure of the fate of the soldiers but we will keep you informed,” Karangi said.

Karangi was addressing the Parliamentary Committee on Defence and Foreign Relations and dismissed claims that KDF was slow in responding to the crash saying such incidents required concerted efforts and anyone on site was free to offer help.

Seven Uganda Peoples Defence Force officers were rescued. The two other copters were discovered yesterday in the forest and the fate of nine crewmembers is still unknown.

By Steve Mkawale, The Standard