DEVELOPING STORY: Phone signals from missing plane located in Kinangop

So far no clear indication if there are survivors. [Courtesy]

Mobile phone signals from the Fly540 plane that went missing Tuesday evening has been located in Kinangop area, Nyandarua County.

Rescue teams from police, Kenya Wildlife Service and responders are concentrating the area stretching to Aberdares forest after signals showed it could be there.

So far no clear indication if there are survivors.

The search of the CS208 plane, registration number 5Y-CAC, was flying from a Kitale airstrip in Trans-Nzoia County to Jomo Kenyatta International Airport when it lost contact with control tower at 5pm Tuesday in the Aberdares.

The plane was about 60 kilometres from its destination and the two female pilots on board had contacted the tower when the contact went missing. It is believed they flew into a bad storm.

According to officials, the plane operated by East Africa Safari Air Express, a subsidiary of Fly540 left Kitale shortly after 4pm with eight passengers and two crewmembers on board and was to land at about 5 pm.

The two pilots were redirected to JKIA and were to land through Utawala direction. This, according to officials, forced the pilots to take the Kinangop route which is considered dangerous because of the weather.

The airline said the plane was missing and that efforts by Kenya Civil Aviation Authority, KWS and Air Accident Investigation Division of Kenya to locate it were ongoing.

"At present, the East Africa Safari Air Express has no knowledge of the location or condition of the aircraft or its occupants," the airline said in the statement on Tuesday night.

It urged relatives and next of kin to convene at Weston Hotel for more information and those able to call crisis hotline number [phone].

A US citizen identified as Mathew Pinkerton is among those believed to have been on board.