Started at 24: Chopper crash victim was Forbes 30 Under 30 entrepreneur, details
This story has significance for readers across Kenya and beyond.
- A luxury safari helicopter carrying seven people crashed near Mount Ololokwe in Samburu County on August 19, 2026
- Miami-based food entrepreneur Roger Duarte, 42, known as the 'Stone Crab King', was among those killed
- Five of the seven victims were US citizens, including a Telemundo executive and Ecuador's intelligence chief
A luxury safari helicopter operated by Lady Lori Kenya Ltd crashed in northern Kenya on August 19, 2026, killing all seven people on board, among them Miami food entrepreneur Roger Duarte, 42, a Forbes 30 Under 30 honoree widely known in the culinary world.
The Eurocopter EC130 B4 went down at approximately 9:13 AM local time in the rugged foothills near Mount Ololokwe in Samburu county.
The aircraft was carrying guests of high-end safari company &Beyond on a scenic flight from the Loisaba wildlife conservancy towards the Ewaso Nyiro River when it crashed.
How Roger Duarte built his business empire
Duarte left a career in investment banking at age 24 to strike out on his own. He founded George Stone Crab in 2008, starting by selling Florida stone crab claws to neighbours on Key Biscayne before scaling the operation into a national distribution network that became, according to Forbes, "the largest distributor of Florida stone crabs to Latin America."
Bloomberg once dubbed him the "Stone Crab King" before Forbes placed him on its prestigious 30 Under 30 list in 2016 in the food and wine category.
"I didn't feel I was going to grow at an investment bank, and I wasn't interested in getting an MBA. It was my turn to start my own business," Duarte told Bloomberg in March 2013.
He went on to co-found the restaurant My Ceviche alongside chef Sam Gorenstein in 2012, which brought in $1 million in sales within its first year from a single test location in South Beach before expanding across South Florida.
Duarte also founded Zuuk Mediterranean Kitchen and served as CEO of Hospitality Capital Partners.
Roger Duarte's family mourns.
Duarte lived in a $2.8 million (KSh 362 million) mansion with his wife, Nicole Valls Duarte, daughter of Felipe Valls Jr., founder of the iconic Versailles restaurant in Miami's Little Havana.
The couple had two young sons, Roger Felipe and George, the second of whom was born in November 2024.
His 82-year-old father, Roger Duarte Sr., confirmed the death.
"I'm very devastated right now," he told the Daily Mail. "I don't have the words to express my feelings. We don't know much about what happened. They are investigating the crash."
In a joint statement, the Duarte and Valls families said:
"The magnitude of this tragedy is impossible to comprehend, and there are no words to express the depth of our pain."
Other Victims and the Ongoing Investigation
The crash also killed José Alberto Suárez, a Telemundo executive who served as president and general manager of several Florida stations; Ecuador's intelligence chief Michele Sensi-Contugi and his wife Stephany Hollihan Vasconez; Adam Hlavaty; Henry Parra; and pilot Josh Outram. Five of the seven victims held US citizenship.
Kenya's Air Accident Investigation Department is leading the inquiry with support from the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority. Investigators are examining the aircraft, flight path, weather conditions, and communications records.
The Kenya Red Cross assisted rescue teams in accessing the remote crash site. No cause has been determined.
Source: TUKO.co.ke
Reporting originally appeared via TUKO. Read the full source for additional context.