KCSE exams: Teacher killed by helicopter blades in Garissa

A deputy head teacher has died after being struck by helicopter blades.

The incident happened at Masalani in Ijara, Garissa on Tuesday morning. 

While confirming the incident, Garissa County Commissioner Solomon Chesut said it was still unclear what the victim was doing near the helicopter as it took off.

"There was an incident where a teacher died on the spot after being hit by the propellers of a helicopter.  We have started investigations to know what he was doing near a helicopter that was taking off," said Mr Chesut. 

The county security team leader described the morning incident as unfortunate. 

"The deceased opened the examination storage container at the DCC office," Mr Chesut said.

Witnesses said the teacher was in a hurry to get on board as he is involved in distributing examination materials in various schools in Ijara sub-county.

Government officials have been suing helicopters in most parts of Garissa to distribute examination materials because heavy rains have made roads impassable.

The two helicopters assigned to Garissa also serve neighbouring Tana River County.

Each of the three North Eastern counties has at least two helicopters for the distribution of the ongoing Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) examinations.

Wajir is left with one helicopter after another crashed as it took off from Wajir airport on Monday morning. 

At least three people were injured, including two pilots and a local MP. 

Another military helicopter crashed in the evening at Buna in Wajir North while distributing relief food. 

The military said in a statement that all the crew were out of danger and that investigations had been launched, although locals pointed to overloading as the cause of the crash.