Five Britons on crashed Kenya plane

Five Britons were on board an aircraft which crashed in southern Cameroon on Saturday, the airline involved said.

Air traffic controllers lost contact with the Kenya Airways Boeing 737-800, which was carrying 105 passengers, eight crew members and a flight engineer, shortly after take-off.

The aircraft came down near the town of Niete in southern Cameroon just after midnight.

A spokeswoman for Kenya Airways in Nairobi confirmed that there were five Britons on board, but could not immediately give any more details.

A British journalist based in Kenya is believed to be among those on board the aircraft.

It is feared that Anthony Mitchell, a correspondent in Nairobi with the Associated Press news agency, may be among the casualties of the crash.

Mr Mitchell was expelled from Ethiopia in January 2006 after being accused of portraying the country in a bad light with his reporting. He was told he was no longer welcome in the country and was given just 24 hours to leave.

The flight left Douala, Cameroon, at 12.05am on Saturday and was due to arrive in the Kenyan capital Nairobi at 6.15am.

It originated in the Ivory Coast but stopped in Cameroon to pick up more passengers, Kenya Airways said.

Kenya Airways chief executive Titus Naikuni told reporters in Nairobi: "The last message was received in Douala after take-off and thereafter the tower was unable to contact the plane."

Source: icessex.icnetwork.co.uk