KENYA: Mob torches church killing villagers seeking shelter from post election clashes in Western Kenya

Record ID: 360952

  • Title: KENYA: Mob torches church killing villagers seeking shelter from post election clashes in Western Kenya
  • Date: 2nd January 2008
  • Summary: (W4) NAIROBI, KENYA (JANUARY01, 2008) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (English) BRITISH HIGH COMMISSIONER, ADAM WOOD SAYING: "We are advising against all but essential travel to the worst affected areas. Those are Kisumu, Kakamega, Kericho around Eldoret and the Kisauni, Likoni and Tiwi areas around Mombasa. We also advise against all but essential travel to Nairobi city center, to
  • Embargoed: 17th January 2008 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Kenya
  • Country: Kenya
  • Topics: Crime / Law Enforcement,Domestic Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVADVWH022CY151CICAO153T3LI8
  • Story Text: A mob torches a Kenyan church killing several dozen villagers cowering inside, as the death toll from ethnic riots triggered by President Mwai Kibaki's disputed re-election soars to nearly 200.
    A mob torched a Kenyan church on Tuesday (January 1), killing several dozen villagers cowering inside, as the death toll from ethnic riots triggered by President Mwai Kibaki's disputed re-election soared to nearly
    The opposition said around 250 people had died.
    In the most grisly incident, about 30 people died when fire engulfed a church near Eldoret town where hundreds of Kibaki's Kikuyu tribe had taken refuge in fear of their lives.
    The attack revived traumatic memories in east Africa of the slaughter in churches of tens of thousands of victims of Rwanda's 1994 genocide, and the mass suicide of hundreds of Ugandan cult members in a church fire in 2000.
    Police, reporters and a senior security official said the blaze at the Kenya Assemblies of God Pentecostal church was deliberately started by a gang of youths.
    Witnesses said charred bodies, including women and children, were strewn about the smouldering wreckage.
    Reinforcements were being rushed to the area to arrest all troublemakers regardless of their status in society.
    Television pictures shot from a helicopter showed plumes of white smoke pouring from burning homesteads in the area. Young men, some toting bows and arrows, manned roadblocks.
    Residents and a security source said the victims had sought safety at the church, about 8 km (5 miles) from Eldoret.
    Local media said 20 people suffered life-threatening burns.
    The explosion of violence in one of Africa's most stable democracies and strongest economies has shocked the world and left Kenyans aghast as long-simmering tribal rivalries pitch communities against each other.
    The regional spill over of the conflict appeared as fuel prices shot up in Uganda, South Sudan, Rwanda and Burundi, all of which get fuel and other products via Kenya's ports.
    Leading local newspaper, the Daily Nation, feared the country was on "the verge of a complete melt-down".
    Police were out in force in the capital on New Year's Day, and Nairobi's streets were quieter. But details emerged of a rising death toll and widespread destruction in one of the country's darkest moments since 1963 independence from Britain.
    Washington first congratulated Kibaki -- then switched that line to express "concerns about irregularities".
    Britain, the European Union and others pointedly avoiding congratulating Kibaki, expressed concern, urged reconciliation and a probe into suspected voting irregularities.
    Western diplomats shuttled between both sides, trying to start mediation. British Prime Minister Gordon Brown called Kibaki and his opposition rival Raila Odinga.
    After the church massacre British High Commisioner to Kenya, Adam Wood issued a statement warning British nationals against travel to areas of Kenya affected by the ongoing violence.

    "We are advising against all but essential travel to the worst affected areas. Those are Kisumu, Kakamega, Kericho around Eldoret and the Kisauni, Likoni and Tiwi areas around Mombasa. We also advise against all but essential travel to Nairobi city center, to Uhuru Park, and the Kibera, Mathare and the Eastleigh areas of the city." said Adan Wood
    "We are concerned about the safety of British nationals in the affected areas - particularly Eldoret. We are doing all we can to ensure their safety. Our consular team in Kenya are in touch with British nationals in Eldoret and across the country. Across Kenya we are advising British nationals to stay indoors and if they have to travel to exercise extreme caution to seek local advice." said Wood.
    The Eldoret area where the church massacre took place is multi-ethnic but traditionally dominated by the Kalenjin tribe.
    There are numerous British farmers still living in parts of Kenya's fertile Rift Valley province including Eldoret.
    It suffered ethnic violence in 1992 and 1997 when hundreds of mainly Kikuyus were killed and thousands more displaced.
    A senior security official in Rift Valley said that as many as 15,000 people were now sheltering from the latest violence in churches and police stations in Eldoret.
    He blamed the opposition for incitement.
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