José Alberto Suarez, chairman of Telemundo, was among those killed in a helicopter crash in Kenya

Seven people have died, including the Italian Michele Sensi-Contugi, originally from Tuscany, and his wife Stephany Hollihan Vascones – they leave behind two children – the death toll from the helicopter crash that took place on 19 August in Kenya, near Mount Ololokwe, in the county of Samburu.

The other four tourists who died were US nationals. This was reported by the US State Department.

Monte Ololokwe

fonte: Google maps

There were therefore six tourists and the pilot on board the aircraft.

Sensi-Contugi, born in Italia in 1982 to an Italian father and an Ecuadorian mother, had been head of Ecuador’s Strategic Intelligence Centre (CIES) and, in 2024, he had also served as government minister during the presidency of Daniel Noboa, to whom he was considered close. He had also been involved in business and had been one of the financial backers of Noboa’s election campaign in 2023.

According to reports from the Kenyan authorities, the helicopter, a Eurocopter EC130 B4 with registration number 5Y-GYM, had taken off from Loisaba and was heading for Ewasonyiro. The aircraft crashed at around 9.13 am local time.

In addition to his career in the public sector, Sensi-Contugi was a businessman and belonged to President Daniel Noboa’s inner circle; he was a friend and confidant of the president. His wife was a fashion designer from Guayaquil and founder, in 2010, of Sensi Studio.

The helicopter pilot had over 15 years’ flying experience, having founded an African helicopter company to take visitors to some of the region’s most remote landscapes.

His company also provides aerial support to the Loisaba Nature Reserve and neighbouring reserves, assisting with wildlife monitoring, animal transfers and sedation operations.