Tragedy as girl,10, dies after consuming poisonous githeri in Naivasha

Police are investigating an incident where a ten-year-old girl died of food poisoning after she had consumed remnants of githeri that her mother brought home in Naivasha, Nakuru County.

Her 16-year-old brother was admitted in hospital in a stable condition after also consuming the food, police said.

Their mother told police she had taken the remnants of the food from a construction site where she cooked to her home and served the same to her children. 

The children started to complain of stomach pains and were rushed to the hospital, where the girl was pronounced dead on arrival.

The brother was admitted in hospital. The body of the girl was moved to the mortuary pending an autopsy.

Police visited the home and picked up samples of the food for analysis.

And officials are investigating an incident where 12 goats died after drinking water at a borehole in Kiliwehiri, Mandera County.

Ten others were left in a critical condition after the incident. A herder had driven the animals to the area for drinking, and when he arrived home, they started to fall fatally. Health and livestock officials visited the scene and took samples from the dead and sick goats for analysis.

They also advised the locals not to consume the carcasses as they could be poisonous.

The carcasses were disposed of pending investigations. Preliminary investigations point to water poisoning.

Meanwhile, in Kiritiri, Embu County, a 14-year-old boy drowned in the river Thiba.

He was a grade nine pupil at Machanga Primary School. The boy had left his home together with others for swimming sessions in the area when he drowned.

The body was retrieved from the water after the January 11 tragedy and moved to the mortuary, police said.

And police in Kathiani, Machakos County, are investigating an incident where the body of one Samuel Mutisya Kavita, 65, was found with deep cuts on the head and hands.

Police said they are investigating a murder in Iveti.

The body was found in a thicket in the area, and the motive of the murder is yet to be known. Police said the body was moved to the mortuary pending an autopsy and other procedures.

In the Tunyai area, Tharaka Nithi County, a suspect was lynched by a mob over claims he was a thief. The victim was identified as Martin Mwiti, 29 and was accused of being a habitual thief in the area.

The body was moved to the mortuary pending other procedures. Police said they had opened murder investigations into the incident that happened on January 11.

Such incidents have been on the rise at an alarming rate amid calls for action to address the trend. Police said the incidents are under probe for now.