At least ten Kenyan soldiers were killed while 13 others sustained injuries after a military aircraft crashed while landing in Kajiado county near the capital Nairobi on Thursday, an official said.

Morekwa Morang'a, the area government administrator, said the injured were airlifted to the military hospital in Nairobi for specialized treatment.

Morang'a said a large whirlwind occurred for a few minutes as the Kenya Air Force Mi 171 E helicopter, which was on its regular and normal exercises, prepared to land, causing the pilot not to see the ground.

The Kenya Defense Forces (KDF) spokesperson Zipporah Kioko confirmed that some of the military officers perished after a military chopper crashed at landing at Ol Tepesi area of Kajiado County.

"Regrettably, following the crash, we suffered casualties. The process of communicating with the families to relay the information and KDF condolences are underway," Kioko said in a statement issued in Nairobi.

Kioko, who did not provide the exact number of casualties, said the aircraft accident investigators are also at the crash site to establish the cause of the early morning accident.

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