HELSINKI (Reuters) - Four Finnish citizens are believed to have been among five people who died in a plane crash in Zimbabwe on Friday, their companies and Finland’s foreign ministry said.

The plane crashed near Masvingo, the ministry said.

Finnish pulp and paper maker UPM said Heikki Vappula, 51, executive vice president of UPM Biorefining, appeared on the passenger list of the crashed private plane.

“We owe a debt of gratitude to Heikki who was a visionary and inspiring executive... His insights and energy will be greatly missed,” UPM Chief Executive Jussi Pesonen said in a statement.

Lassila & Tikanoja CEO Pekka Ojanpaa, 52, was also among the victims, the environmental and support services firm said.

“Pekka served as President and CEO of Lassila & Tikanoja for seven years... Our deepest condolences to Pekka’s family and closest ones in this time of loss”, company chairman Heikki Bergholm said.

Ojanpaa was set to leave Lassila & Tikanoja at the end of this month to start working as chief executive of another Finnish company, fibre maker Suominen Corporation.

The ministry said it had received confirmation from Zimbabwean authorities regarding the four Finns involved.

The two other Finns on the crashed plane were a 53-year-old technology expert and a partner of a law firm, Finnish media reported.

The four men are believed to have been on a private hunting trip, media reported. </s> Four Finnish tourists on a hunting expedition have died in a plane crash in Zimbabwe.

The crash on Friday also killed their pilot Barry Style, the Finnish consul in the African country said today.

The plane, reported to be a Cessna-182 light aircraft, crashed near Zimbabwe's southern city of Masvingo.

'There were four Finnish citizens and their pilot in the plane, they all died,' Sally Ward told AFP.

'It was cloudy and they were trying to get above the clouds.'

The accident occurred near Renco, a gold mine on the outskirts of Masvingo, police spokesman Paul Nyathi said.

According to ZimLive the passengers were flying from Buffalo Range Airport in Chiredzi to the country's famous Victoria Falls.

The bodies were said to have been so badly destroyed in the crash that emergency services initially thought only three had died, it is claimed.

Investigators also found a Finnish identity card and a passport at the scene, police said. </s> Image: Zinyange Auntony / Lehtikuva

The Foreign Ministry confirmed Saturday that all four passengers aboard a light air plane that crashed in Zimbabwe on Friday were Finnish citizens.

Among the passengers confirmed dead was 52-year-old Pekka Ojanpää, chief executive of the maintenance services and circular economy firm Lassila & Tikkanoja, daily Helsingin Sanomat reported on Saturday.

Image: Emmi Korhonen / Lehtikuva

Another of the crash victims was 51-year-old Heikki Vappula, director of forestry company UPM’s Biorefining business unit.

All of the Finns on board the ill-fated Cessna S206 aircraft were said to be men in their 50s. The pilot also died in the crash.

Image: Trond H. Trosdahl / Lehtikuva

Reports indicate that the plane took off in cloudy conditions from an airfield near Chiredzi in the mountainous Masvingo province and was bound for Victoria Falls.

According to the Zimbabwe public broadcaster the victims’ bodies were transferred to the Masvingo hospital for forensic examinations.

Accident investigation agency still in dark

Finland’s Safety Investigation Authority Otkes had not yet received any information from Zimbabwean officials about the crash, director Veli-Pekka Nurmi told STT news agency on Saturday.

"It seems that we will not get it, at least this weekend," he added.

According to Nurmi, it does not seem likely that Otkes personnel will travel to the crash site, which is in rugged terrain, for an investigation. He noted that if the plane was manufactured in the US for example, investigators are likely to seek information in that direction.

The Otkes director said that it is quite typical for officials from different countries to cooperate on a flight crash investigation. He explained that the state in which the aircraft is registered and operated as well as the country where it was designed and manufactured all have a right to appoint a representative to take part in the investigation.

"And then there are participating states which get involved if their nationals are victims. This option only provides limited access to information. The right is restricted to information about the victims," Nurmi pointed out.

"Typical of a light airplane crash"

Nurmi said that he had seen photos of the crash site in media reports and noted that they do not show anything unusual.

"Pretty typical traces of a light airplane crash. That’s what it looks like," he said, adding that Cessna aircraft are reliable and widely used. He said that what can make a difference in aviation is how aircraft are maintained and serviced.

"Even good planes can malfunction if they are neglected and vice versa," Nurmi declared. </s> Four Finns on a hunting expedition died in a plane crash Friday that also killed their pilot near Zimbabwe's southern city of Masvingo, the Finnish consul's wife told AFP.

"There were four Finnish citizens and their pilot in the plane, they all died," Sally Ward told AFP.

"It was cloudy and they were trying to get above the clouds."

Police spokesperson Paul Nyathi said the accident occurred near Renco, a gold mine on the outskirts of Masvingo and that investigators had found a Finnish identity card and a passport at the scene. </s> MASVINGO– A small plane went down in Tokwane-Ngundu, Masvingo Province, on Friday morning killing five people including four tourists from Finland.

The Zimbabwean pilot of the Cessna 182 aircraft, who died in the crash, has been named as Barry Style.

The Civil Aviation Authority of Zimbabwe has sent accident investigators to the scene.

The plane crashed into a rocky outcrop and broke apart. So dismembered were the bodies of the five victims that first responders at the horrific scene initially thought they had three victims.

‘There were four Finnish citizens and their pilot in the plane, they all died,’ Sally Ward told AFP.

‘It was cloudy and they were trying to get above the clouds.’

The accident occurred near Renco, a gold mine on the outskirts of Masvingo, police spokesman Paul Nyathi said.

‘It was cloudy and they were trying to get above the clouds.’

The accident occurred near Renco, a gold mine on the outskirts of Masvingo, police spokesman Paul Nyathi said.

According to ZimLive the passengers were flying from Buffalo Range Airport in Chiredzi to the country’s famous Victoria Falls.

The bodies were said to have been so badly destroyed in the crash that emergency services initially thought only three had died, it is claimed.

Investigators also found a Finnish identity card and a passport at the scene, police said. </s> Exiled Zimbabwe opposition leader Roy Bennett and four other people were killed in a helicopter crash in a remote northern part of the U.S. state of New Mexico, officials and his political party said on Thursday.

The crash of a private Huey helicopter in rugged terrain near Raton, New Mexico, on Wednesday evening killed Bennett, 60, along with his wife, Heather Bennett, 55, James Coleman Dodd, 57, of Colorado, Charles Ryland Burnett, 61, of Texas and Paul Cobb, 67, of Texas, New Mexico State Police said.

Bennett, a former treasurer general of the opposition MDC party, was an important figure in Zimbabwean politics and served time in prison under former President Robert Mugabe. He recently told CNN that his country would never again let itself be ruled by a dictatorship.

“Roy was a resolute and committed fighter for democratic change in Zimbabwe,” the MDC said in a statement.

The party described Bennett as a charismatic grassroots politician and successful farmer in the country’s eastern Chimanimani District. He was fluent in Zimbabwe’s Shona language, it said, and had helped hundreds of impoverished villagers pay school fees for their children.

Though white, Bennett fought for the rights of black Zimbabweans, the party said, and had the nickname “Pachedu,” a Shona word that translates as “together” or “one of us.”

The National Transportation Safety Board said it was investigating the crash 15 miles (24 km) east of Raton.

The helicopter went down about 6pm on Wednesday about 15 miles (24km) east of the small city of Raton near the Colorado state line.

The injured victim of the crash called 911 after the helicopter went down and authorities launched a search. They said the response was slow because of the rugged terrain and remote area, which has few roads.

Engulfed in flames, the wreckage was spotted on the ranch property east of the small community of Raton. The fire had charred a large area around the crash site.

The crash also killed pilot Jamie Coleman Dodd, 57, of Trinidad, Colorado; co-pilot Paul Cobb, 67, of Conroe, Texas; Charles Ryland Burnett, 61, of Houston.

Bennett, a white former farmer, was known as “Pachedu”, meaning “one of us” in Shona and was often called the sharpest thorn in the side of former president Robert Mugabe.

In 2004, Bennett was jailed for a year for assaulting a cabinet minister who had said Bennett’s “forefathers were thieves and murderers” during a parliamentary debate. An enraged Bennett charged the minister, who fell to the floor.

He emerged from prison rail-thin and scarred from repeated sunburns. He told of the mistreatment of fellow prisoners, some of whom he said had starved to death in their cells.

After receiving death threats, Bennett fled Zimbabwe but returned in 2009 after his party nominated him for the deputy agriculture minister in a coalition government with Mugabe’s Zanu-PF. Mugabe, who had repeatedly alleged Bennett was the opposition party’s contact with foreign funders, refused to swear him in.

Bennett later returned to South Africa but remained a vocal critic of Mugabe’s rule. He also criticized his former party for allegedly enjoying the comforts of government while ordinary Zimbabweans suffered. </s> Image copyright Kenya Wildlife Service Image caption Central Island National Park has three crater lakes

A helicopter has crashed in northern Kenya, killing four American tourists and their Kenyan pilot, officials say.

The helicopter reportedly crashed in Central Island National Park on Sunday.

Police said two helicopters had landed on the island's Labolo tented camp on Sunday evening - one flew away safely. The cause of the crash is not known.

Local media say the pilot, Mario Magonga, once worked for the country's deputy president and had extensive training and experience.

He had previously served as a Kenya Defence Forces pilot, but had been working for a private firm, KIDL Helicopters, since March 2017.

The US embassy in Nairobi confirmed the death of four Americans and named three of them as Anders Asher Jesiah Burke, Brandon Howe Stapper and Kyle John Forti.

Image copyright Kyle Forti/Facebook Image caption Kyle Forti

Mr Forti was a political consultant in Colorado Springs.

The state Senate and House of Representatives held a moment of silence on Monday in honour of Mr Forti, the Colorado Springs Gazette reported.

Image copyright Brandon Stapper/Facebook Image caption Brandon Stapper

Mr Stapper was an entrepreneur and investor in San Diego, according to his website.

Image copyright Asher Burke/Facebook Image caption Asher Burke

Mr Burke also lived in San Diego and is listed as the president of a brand incubator on his LinkedIn profile.

Mr Burke and Mr Stapper were close friends, Mr Stapper's family told CBS 8.

"We offer our sincerest condolences to the family and friends of all those killed in the crash. We are providing all appropriate consular assistance to the families of the American citizens," an embassy spokesperson said in a statement to US media.

Richard Onyonka - a relative of the pilot and the area's MP - said Cpt Magonga had been cleared to fly several high profile guests in the past, including former US President Barack Obama.

"[He] was one of the best helicopter pilots that money could buy," Mr Onyonka told Kenya's NTV.

The accident comes just three weeks after a separate plane crash in Kenya which killed five people including three Americans. </s> Four American tourists and their Kenyan pilot were killed when their helicopter crashed shortly after takeoff from a remote island in a lake in northwest Kenya, officials said Monday.

“There were five people on board, four of them were US citizens and the pilot, Capt. Marious Magonga,” the Kenyan Civil Aviation Authority said in a statement.

The US Embassy identified three of the dead Americans as Anders Asher Jesiah Burke, Brandon Howe Stapper and Kyle John Forti.

The helicopter “lost contact and crashed” shortly after taking off from Lake Turkana’s Central Island National Park along with a second chopper about 8 p.m. Sunday, the statement said.

They were headed for Lobolo Camp on the mainland.

Magonga, who owned the Bell 505 chopper, also flew for Kenya’s deputy president, William Ruto.

The cause of the crash remains under investigation.

Known as the Jade Sea, Lake Turkana is the most saline lake in East Africa and the largest desert lake on Earth. Its Central Island comprises three active volcanoes, according to the Kenya Wildlife Service.

Last month, three Americans were among five people killed when their plane crashed as they were heading to Lodwar near Lake Turkana. </s> (Reuters) - Exiled Zimbabwe opposition leader Roy Bennett and four other people were killed in a helicopter crash in a remote northern part of the U.S. state of New Mexico, officials and his political party said on Thursday.

The crash of a private Huey helicopter in rugged terrain near Raton, New Mexico, on Wednesday evening killed Bennett, 60, along with his wife, Heather Bennett, 55, James Coleman Dodd, 57, of Colorado, Charles Ryland Burnett, 61, of Texas and Paul Cobb, 67, of Texas, New Mexico State Police said.

Bennett, a former treasurer general of the opposition MDC party, was an important figure in Zimbabwean politics and served time in prison under former President Robert Mugabe. He recently told CNN that his country would never again let itself be ruled by a dictatorship.

“Roy was a resolute and committed fighter for democratic change in Zimbabwe,” the MDC said in a statement.

The party described Bennett as a charismatic grassroots politician and successful farmer in the country’s eastern Chimanimani District. He was fluent in Zimbabwe’s Shona language, it said, and had helped hundreds of impoverished villagers pay school fees for their children.

Though white, Bennett fought for the rights of black Zimbabweans, the party said, and had the nickname “Pachedu,” a Shona word that translates as “together” or “one of us.”

The National Transportation Safety Board said it was investigating the crash 15 miles (24 km) east of Raton.
Four Finnish tourists and a Zimbabwean pilot are killed when a Cessna S206 crashes in Masvingo Province, in southern Zimbabwe. Two Finnish business leaders were among the dead: Pekka Ojanpää [fi], the CE of the maintenance services and circular economy company Lassila & Tikanoja [fi], and Heikki Vappula [fi], a director of the forestry company UPM.