Victims recount moments before Nairobi blast

NAIROBI, Kenya, May 28 – Rachael Mwangi was attending to a client at her stall at Assanands House when suddenly she heard a loud blast.

“I just heard the blast and I found myself down then objects started falling on me. From there I don’t know what happened. I just saw two men lifting me up and I was having currents of electric shocks all over me,” she explained to Capital FM News from the Kenyatta National Hospital’s casualty department as she awaited treatment.

Rachael who operates Sasa exhibitions doesn’t know what happened to her male client after the incident that destroyed everything in her shop.

“My back hurts,” she told us as she was wheeled away for an X-ray.

Edward Mwaura was passing by the building when the blast occurred.

“I felt like I have been hit on my head… I fell down and then glasses followed and as I tried to stand up I heard another explosion,” he told us.

Edward suffered deep cuts on his face and one could clearly tell he was in a lot of pain.

Rachael and Edward were among 30 people rushed to the Kenyatta National Hospital following the afternoon blast.

The KNH Deputy Director of Clinical Services Thomas Mutie said four of the victims were in a critical condition while the rest suffered minor soft tissue injuries and would be discharged soon after undergoing treatment.

“One of them had fractures. Two of them had burns and the other one had deep lacerations,” he told Journalists.

No deaths were recorded.

Assanands which houses several clothing stalls was extensively damaged and property of unknown value was destroyed. Neighbouring buildings were slightly by damaged by the blast.

There was conflicting information on the cause of the blast with Prime Minister Raila Odinga linking it to a terrorist attack while Police Commissioner Matthew Iteere said it was as a result of an electrical fault.

Kenya Power vigorously denied Iteere’s assertion.

But a statement from the Police Commissioner later said the investigating team was exploring the possibility that the blast was caused by criminals using an improvised explosive device.

“So far the cause of explosion has not been established. Initial examination of the scene indicates that the possibility of a conventional bomb is remote. A police team comprising of the Anti-Terrorism Police Unit, the Criminal Investigations Department and Nairobi area command are on the ground carrying out investigations,” the statement read in part.

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