All seven people on board a safari helicopter were killed when the aircraft crashed in a remote part of northern Kenya on Wednesday morning, local police confirmed.

The Kenya Civil Aviation Authority stated that the accident occurred at 9.13am while the aircraft was travelling from the Loisaba Conservancy to the Ewaso Nyiro region in Samburu County. An official investigation has been launched into the disaster, which involved six passengers and one pilot aboard a Eurocopter EC130 B4.

Late on Wednesday, Samburu police commander David Nkoroi told reporters that everyone on board had died. The identities of those killed have not yet been made public.

Local media reported that the helicopter went down in a rugged area in the foothills of Mount Ololokwe, a popular tourist destination in the country.

Owned by local business Lady Lori Helicopters, the aircraft was operating a charter flight carrying guests with travel company &Beyond.

Safari operator Tropic Air Kenya said in a statement that it dispatched two helicopters to aid search and rescue operations.

The Kenya Red Cross added that its response teams were "participating in a multiagency response effort as rescue teams work to access the crash site."

Helicopter crashes have occurred with increasing regularity across Kenya, which has a vibrant tourism industry that depends on domestic carriers to transport visitors to distant locations like Mount Ololokwe.

In February, a legislator was among six people who died following a helicopter crash in a hilly region of western Kenya.