An air ambulance has crashed into a residential area near the Kenyan capital Nairobi, killing at least six people and injuring two others, according to a local official.

The mid-size jet took off from Wilson Airport at 2:17pm local time (11:17 GMT) on Thursday and was en route to Somaliland when it came down in Ruiru, Kiambu County, shortly after 3:00pm (12:00 GMT).

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“We have lost four people, including the pilot … it was all fatal,” said Kiambu County Commissioner Henry Wafula.

“The house that it landed on … two people again also died,” he said, adding that two people on the ground had been “seriously injured”.

Images taken by reporters from the AFP news agency on the scene showed huge crowds had gathered, as rescue teams from the Kenya Red Cross and first responders picked through the scattered debris.

“The plane started burning while in the air,” resident Tasha Wanjira told AFP, before it hurtled down into the small community.

Another resident, Irene Wangui, described how the “plane passed by our building shaking it”, and said when the aircraft came down, “there were body parts littered all over.”

As dusk fell, hundreds remained to watch the rescue workers, with residents sobbing as they were comforted by neighbours.

“I have lost everything, thank God my children were not around,” Margaret Wairimu told AFP, weeping over her destroyed home.

The CEO of the charity Amref Flying Doctors, Stephen Gitau, confirmed one of their aeroplanes, a Cessna Citation XLS, had been “involved in a fatal accident today”, but did not provide any further details.

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Gitau said the company was focusing on “the safety and well-being of those on board” and said that further information would be provided “as it is confirmed”.

Amref released a statement saying that it was “cooperating fully with relevant aviation authorities and emergency response teams to establish the facts surrounding the situation”.

Based in Nairobi, Amref was founded in 1957 as the Flying Doctors of East Africa.