July 21, 2003	Monday	Jumadi-ul-Awwal 20, 1424

NAIROBI, July 20: A South African plane carrying 12 American tourists crashed into Mount Kenya, Africa’s second-highest mountain, killing all on board, officials said Sunday.

The MetroLiner aircraft smashed into Point Lenana, one of three peaks on the 5,200-metre mountain, shortly before dusk on Saturday, said a senior parks official.

“It flew straight into the side of Mount Kenya,” said Bongo Woodley, senior warden of Mount Kenya National Park.

“The plane flew in quite fast and just disintegrated,” Woodley told Deutsche Presse-Agentur, dpa.

He said the plane was carrying 12 American tourists and two South African pilots.

According to its flight plan, the plane left Wilson airport in Nairobi on Saturday en route to Samburu National Park, and was flying around the mountain’s summit at 6 p.m. when park rangers stationed in a nearby hut heard the crash.—dpa