(Bloomberg) -- The head of Kenya Defence Forces, General Francis Ogolla, has died in a helicopter crash in a remote are near the Ugandan border, President William Ruto said.

Nine other military officials were also killed in the Thursday afternoon incident, the Kenyan leader said in a live television broadcast. Two officials survived the crash that happened shortly after take-off. The officials were visiting troops fighting banditry in Kenya’s North Rift region, Ruto said.

“It is a tragic moment for the Kenya Defence Forces fraternity and it is a most unfortunate day for the nation,” Ruto said in a live broadcast. The Kenya Air Force has dispatched an investigation team to establish the cause of the accident, he said.

Ogolla was appointed Chief of Defence Forces a year ago and has been with the military for 40 years. Last year, Kenya deployed its soldiers to the vast arid region that borders Uganda and South Sudan to quell rampant banditry and cattle rustling.

 

 

 

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