Government officials killed in plane crash

Some 14 people, among them several members of parliament and government officials, were killed when a military aircraft crashed as it prepared to land on an airstrip near the northern Kenyan town of Marsabit on Monday, officials said. The Y-12 plane with a total of 18 people on board was ferrying the government officials and politicians to a meeting to discuss ways of improving security in the area, where members of different ethnic communities often clash over water and pasture, said Bogita Ongeri, spokesman for the defence department. The pilot and three officials were reported to have survived. The rest of the passengers, including three members of parliament and a junior minister, were feared dead, according to local media reports. The aircraft, which left a military air base in Nairobi on Monday morning, had crashed on a hill near the airstrip and burst into flames, said Muthea Iringo, the district commissioner for Marsabit. President Mwai Kibaki expressed shock and concern following the crash. Two planes had been dispatched to Marsabit to help with the rescue effort and airlift the four survivors to Nairobi for medical treatment.