IN SHORT: Social media posts claim that a light aircraft which crashed in Kenya's Maasai Mara was en route to a proposed Ebola quarantine facility in the country. But the plane was carrying three Kenyans and crashed after a mechanical problem.
Posts circulating on Facebook and X show a photo of a light aircraft that appears to have veered off a runway and crashed into dry grass.
Two uniformed individuals are seen running towards it. The tail of another light plane is visible in the foreground, while a hand-drawn blue circle has been added to draw attention to the crash site.
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The image is accompanied by a claim that the aircraft was carrying US medical personnel and Kenyan government officials travelling to Nanyuki, where a controversial Ebola quarantine facility is allegedly being established.
All the posts have the same caption reading:
An aircraft allegedly carrying US medical personnel and Kenyan government officials has crashed at Maasai Mara airstrip. It's said the US medical personnel, who were heading to Nanyuki where a quarantine center for Ebola patients had been set up, crashed a few minutes after Laikipia residents staged demonstrations in Nanyuki town against the quarantine center. The main cause of the crash is yet to be revealed.
Collectively, the posts have attracted more than 35,600 views and significant engagement.
Why the claim is circulating
The claim surfaced amid major controversy regarding a proposed US-funded Ebola quarantine and treatment facility in Nanyuki in Kenya's Laikipia county. The facility is part of a bilateral agreement between Kenya and the United States and was intended to accommodate US citizens potentially exposed to Ebola during outbreaks in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Uganda.
The proposal sparked deadly protests, legal challenges and widespread concern online. A Kenyan court temporarily halted the project and barred the admission of foreign patients pending the outcome of a court case. Despite the orders, there have been media reports that construction was underway.
Does the image being shared online show a crash involving US medical personnel and Kenyan officials travelling to the proposed Ebola facility? We checked.
The claim is false
A reverse image search shows that the photo used in the posts is a screengrab from a widely reported aircraft accident at Ol Kiombo airstrip in the Maasai Mara national reserve. According to the reporting and police information, the aircraft crash-landed after the nose landing gear malfunctioned.
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Reports citing a police incident record say that there were only three people on board: the pilot, his wife and a staff member from the reserve. All were Kenyan citizens and escaped unscathed.
None of the reports mentions US medical personnel, Kenyan government officials or a flight to Nanyuki. The aircraft was travelling to the Maasai Mara, not Laikipia.
The social media posts appear to have taken a genuine photograph of a real aircraft accident and made up a story about it.
The claim is false.
