Special for CAFS) Former Kenyan PM safe after plane crash

KISUMU, Kenya, May 31 — Kenya’s former prime minister Raila Odinga is safe following an incident Sunday in which a chopper that had flown him in Western Kenya crashed shortly after dropping him and his entourage of four people.
Odinga’s spokesman Dennis Onyango said in a statement that the helicopter dropped Odinga at a local school in Siaya County from the lakeside city of Kisumu, but it soon crashed when it attempted to lift off to create space for other planes.
Odinga, who is also the African Union Commissioner for Infrastructure, had accompanied President Uhuru Kenyatta on a tour of the region in commissioning of a local road project before the incident.
Onyango said Odinga later successfully proceeded with his other scheduled activities with President Kenyatta who is on a three-day tour of the region.
Local police confirmed the incident, saying the plane had substantive damage following the crash.
“The captain was not injured but his only passenger Peter Mbeka complains of chest pains but is stable awaiting to be taken to hospital,” the police said in a report, adding further investigations by aviation authorities are upcoming. (Xinhua)