(Adnkronos) – Seven people have died, including Italian Michele Sensi-Contugi and his wife Stephany Hollihan Vascones, in a helicopter crash that occurred today in Kenya, near Mount Ololokwe, in Samburu County. Six tourists and the pilot were on board the aircraft. The incident was confirmed by the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority (KCAA).
The deaths of Sensi-Contugi and his wife were confirmed by sources close to the Ecuadorian government, according to the ‘Primicias’ newspaper website. Sensi-Contugi, born in Italy in 1982 to an Italian father and an Ecuadorian mother, had headed the Strategic Intelligence Center of Ecuador (Cies) and, in 2024, had also served as Minister of Government during the presidency of Daniel Noboa, to whom he was considered close. He had also engaged in entrepreneurial activities and was among the financiers of Noboa’s electoral campaign in 2023.
According to Kenyan authorities, the helicopter, an Eurocopter Ec130 B4 with registration 5y-Gym, had taken off from Loisaba and was headed to Ewasonyiro. The aircraft crashed around 9:13 local time. The incident occurred in an area frequented by tourists and hikers due to the presence of Mount Ololokwe, considered a sacred mountain by the Samburu people.
