Kenyan plane crashed in Cameroon - report

May 5, 2007, 12:02 GMT

This undated file image shows a Kenyan Airlines airliner similar to the Boeing 737-800 that has crashed in Cameroon, 5 May 2007. Reports from the airline spokesperson in Kenya said the Nairobi-bound jet went down near the town of Niete, about 125 miles south of the coastal city of Douala, where it had taken off shortly after midnight in this west African nation. EPA/STR

Nairobi - A passenger jet flying to the Kenyan capital Nairobi carrying 106 passengers and nine crew members crashed in Cameroon, Cameroon radio reports said Saturday.

The Kenya Airways plane crashed near the coastal district of Kribi, the report said. There was no official confirmation.

However, Kenya Airways said that the authorities in Cameroon had picked up an automatic distress signal in the area where the plane went missing.

Earlier Saturday a spokeswoman for Nairobi airport, where the plane was due to land, said that contact with the plane was lost shortly after takeoff from Douala in Cameroon.

'We have no further information,' she added.

The Boeing 737 originally took off from the Ivory Coast city of Abidjan and made an interim stop at Douala before taking off again shortly after midnight on its way to Nairobi. It was due to land early Saturday.

Meanwhile South African Foreign Affairs spokesman Ronnie Mamoepa told the SAPA news agency that seven South Africans were onboard the plane.

'The South African government extends heartfelt condolences to the Kenyan and Cameroonian authorities as well as the South African families,' Mamoepa said.

Kenya Airways is a partner of KLM and Air France. In 2000 a Kenya Airways plane crashed following takeoff in Abidjan, killing 170.

A spokesperson for the airline told South African radio that the plane involved Saturday was brand new.