NAIROBI, Oct. 11 (Xinhua) -- A plane veered off the runway while departing from the Wilson Airport in Kenyan capital Nairobi early Friday, injuring at least two people.
The Fokker 50, 5Y IZO operated by Silverstone Air, a Kenya's domestic airline, which was destined to the tourist resort town of Lamu via Mombasa city, skidded off the runway and crashed outside the airport on take-off.
"We can confirm that our Fokker 50, 5Y-IZO has had an incident while taking off at Wilson Airport at 9 am this morning. The aircraft was operating the Wilson-Mombasa-Lamu-Mombasa-Wilson route," the airline said in a statement.
Silverstone Air said the passengers and crew have all been safely disembarked as the airline is working with relevant authorities to assess the situation.
The Kenya Airports Authority (KAA) said the Fokker 50 aircraft had 55 people on board, including 50 passengers and five crew members.
"Two passengers were slightly injured and are receiving appropriate medical attention," KAA said in a statement issued in Nairobi.
"The Aircraft Accident Investigations Directorate, under the Ministry of Transport, Infrastructure, Housing and Urban Development, is carrying out investigations to establish the cause of the accident," KAA said.
Officials suspect an engine failure. Kenya Red Cross reported that the 5Y-IZO aircraft "developed some technical hitch while taking off".
