NAKURU,Kenya, Mar, 21 – One person is dead while four others are nursing serious burn injuries following an altercation last week, Friday evening at Mawanga estate in Nakuru county.
The deceased and the victims are all South Sudanese nationals.
According to preliminary reports, what started out as a war of words quickly escalated into a violent incident that saw five people nearly burnt to death inside their home.During the 9.30 pm incident, witnesses say that a woman, hurled insults at a south sudanese man and later threatened to call his friends to ‘deal’ with him while at a local kiosk.
It is not yet clear what prompted the incident, though some say that the man allegedly harassed the woman who sought help from his friends.
The victims have however denied this narrative.
“They came here an started throwing stones, we locked ourselves in the living room, they really wanted to burn us..then they started pouring petrol outside the window, they said we would die inside the room,” said Jacob Majur, one of the survivours.
The other victims quickly rushed inside the house and locked themselves inside their home in a bid to avoid the angry mob said to consist largely of bodaboda riders.
“I tried my best to escape, I went up to the ceiling and attempted to remove the iron sheet so that we could escape through the roof,” said Majur.
“They came with petrol and said they would burn us…We did not know what caused the problem,” said another victim.
As the alleged perpetrators doused the house with more petrol, residents are said to have alerted police to the incident with the victims quickly rushed to the Nakuru Referral and Teaching Hospital.
“I am an innocent victim. I am a student and have no beef with any of the residents. I came back home three weeks ago for the holiday only to be caught up in this mess,” said Bul Garang, a victim.
The mater has now attracted the attention of the South Sudanese embassy who have in turn lodged a complaint at the Foreign affairs office.
“What happened outside was bodaboda riders were mobilized, they bought petrol,broke into their compound and poured the petrol and lit the fire. Five young men were burnt. No arrest has been made. Police have taken over the case since no due process was initially taken,” said Andrew Kuol Agok who is a consul service officer at the South Sudan Embassy in Nairobi.
Meanwhile Dr James Waweru, the deputy medical superintendent Nakuru Referral and Teaching Hospital said that the patients are in stable condition amidst the death of one.
“We have three, two wanted to be transferred to their hospital of choice. Elijah Akuien suffered 12 per cent second degree burns,Bill Garang suffered 12 percent second degree burns and Mathew Guor suffered 21 per cent second degree burns,” said Waweru.
The burn victims are being monitored by surgeons and might be required to undergo skin grafting.
Investigations into the assault and arson incident are ongoing with police launching a manhunt for the perpetrators.
Want to send us a story? Contact Shahidi News Tel: +254115512797 (Mobile & WhatsApp)
