Yaounde, Cameroon – A Kenya Airways jet that took off during a midnight storm crashed early Saturday with 114 on board, possibly in remote southern Cameroon, officials said. Nearby villagers reported hearing an explosion and seeing a flash of fire.
The jet, bound for Kenya’s capital, Nairobi, went down about 90 miles southeast of Douala, where it had taken off, said Alex Bayeck, a communications officer.
There was no word on survivors, Bayeck said by telephone en route to the crash site. He said search planes were flying over the forested area where the airliner gave off a distress signal.
Residents in the area, which has few roads, reported hearing a “large boom,” and some described a flash of fire that looked markedly different from lightning, Bayeck said.
In the town of Lolodorf, passengers’ relatives gathered.
“I don’t know what to do. I’m just terribly confused. My younger sister boarded this plane that is supposed to have crashed,” said lawyer Innocent Bonu.
The U.S. National Transportation Safety Board sent a team to aid the crash probe.
