A cargo plane registered in Kenya crashed in Somalia on Saturday, killing all five people on board, the Somali Civil Aviation Authority (SCAA) has confirmed.

The aircraft, a DHC-5D Buffalo with serial number 109 and registration 5Y-RBA, was operated by Trident Aviation Ltd, a Kenyan company.

It went down at around 5.43 pm local time, approximately 24 kilometres south-west of Mogadishu, while flying back from Dhobley town in the Lower Juba region.

“There were five persons on board (POB), all of whom tragically lost their lives. The flight had departed from Dhobley (HCDB) and was en route to Aden Abdulle International Airport (HCMM),” the SCAA said in a statement on Sunday.

However, the nationalities of the victims were not immediately disclosed.

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According to officials, the aircraft had completed a supply mission for the African Union forces before departing for Mogadishu.

Search and rescue teams, including government agencies and their partners, were quickly dispatched to the crash site.

Preliminary reports on Saturday suggested that four of the five individuals on board were Kenyan nationals.

“I think so. The SCAA didn’t disclose their nationalities. The plane was used to deliver supplies to the KDF in Dhobley,” a source in Mogadishu told the Nation.

The Somaliland Standard reported that the aircraft had encountered mechanical issues earlier in Dhobley, though it had been repaired before taking off for its ill-fated return flight.

Investigations into the cause of the crash are ongoing.