Riots in Kisii after lorry ploughed into pedestrians

Eight cars were on Friday set ablaze and a petrol station vandalized after students of the Gusii Institute of Technology rioted in protest at the death of two people in an accident on Thursday evening.

The angry mob engaged police in running battles for several hours rendering the Kisii-Keroka highway impassable for the better part of the morning.

A student who was shot in the leg and a policeman were among the seven people injured in the protest and admitted to Kisii public hospital.

Some of the officers took refuge at the Gusii Coffee Farmers Cooperative offices as the crowd chased them away.

The riots started on Thursday night after a lorry carrying electricity poles from Keumbu to Kisii town left the road and killed two women outside the college.

The two women were workers at the institute and died on the spot when the poles fell on them.

The lorry had been impounded by police for a traffic offence and was being driven to Kisii Central police station by one of the officers.

An eyewitness, Mr Fred Machuki, said the driver lost control of the vehicle after hitting a ditch at about 7pm. Several other people were injured as they fled.

Chaos ensued soon after as police officers arrived and attempted to take the bodies away. Protesting students, joined by the public set lorry ablaze.

Photojournalists Benson Momanyi of Nation and Denish Ochieng of The Standard, were injured after being assaulted by police.

“I ran towards the police to escape the stone-throwing crowd but one of the officers shouted to the others that I was a journalist. The police officer who was nearest to me picked up a stone and hit me on the mouth with it,” Mr Ochieng, who lost several teeth, said.

GOVERNOR URGES CALM

GSU officers were deployed on Friday afternoon and managed to quell the riot but not before they spread to the town centre.

Governor James Ongwae called for calm and said action would be taken after investigations.

“I call upon the students and members of the public to exercise restraint and avoid taking the law into their own hands,” he said.

They were both treated at Kisii Teaching and Referral Hospital and later on recorded statements with the police.

SOURCE: Nairobi News

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