Tourist plane crashes carrying a dozen people

Everyone on board is thought to be dead

The plane was operating a tourist flight from the popular beach resort of Diani to an airstrip in Massai Mara game park, a well-known tourist spot.

The Kenya Civil Aviation Authority (KCAA) said that the plane went down at around 05:30 local time (02:30 GMT).

The aircraft operator, Mombasa Air Safari, said that 11 people died, 10 European tourists of which eight Hungarian and two Germans, and one Kenyan crewing the plane.

However, a press release from the KCAA has said that 12 people were on board.

The aircraft was a Cessna 208 Grand Caravan.

The company released a statement that read: "Our primary focus right now is on providing all possible support to the families affected."

Images published by local media showed a large debris field scattered across the crash site.

Speaking to the BBC, Kwale Country Commissioner Stephen Orinde said the plane crashed about 10km (six miles) from Kwale town after departing Diani.

He added that investigations into the cause of the crash were being hampered by bad weather.

"The weather is not very good here at the moment. Since early in the morning, it is raining and it is very misty, but we cannot preempt [the findings]," Orinde said.