Explosion rocks downtown Nairobi

[Paragon]

Explosion rocks downtown Nairobi

POSTED: 4:51 a.m. EDT, June 11, 2007

 

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) -- An explosion has shaken downtown Nairobi, killing one person and injuring at least 31 others, officials say.

 

The cause of the blast was not clear, but police Commissioner Mohamed Hussein Ali said "it was something that somebody was carrying."

 

Police at the scene said that initial investigations indicate that a man got off a minivan taxi and a guard tried to stop him from entering a small restaurant because he was wearing something that looked suspicious.

 

It was after this confrontation that the explosion occurred, said the policemen who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the media.

 

They said it was not clear whether the man had anything to do with the bombing. They had no other details.

 

A man who said he witnessed the explosion said the blast struck two men in their 30s who were walking together.

 

"One of the men, who was carrying a rucksack was lifted off the ground and when he came down, he did not move ... The other man was injured on both legs but when we tried to assist, he refused our help," Joshua Kinyazui said.

 

"The explosion caused papers to scatter all over and police then came and took the injured man away."

 

An AP reporter saw a body lying outside a shop where the windows were blown out, with shards of glass strewn on the pavement.

 

The shop was on the ground floor of one of Nairobi's oldest hotels, the Ambassadeur Hotel, which has a largely Kenyan clientele. Part of the hotel's parking area also serves as a terminus for buses and minivan taxies.

 

The hotel itself was not affected by the blast.

 

Police were trying to clear the area as hundreds of people gathered around.

 

"Whatever it was exploded; it was something that somebody was carrying," Ali said.

 

He urged the public to be "extremely careful" about speculating on the nature of explosion.

 

Kariuki Chege, spokesman for Kenyatta National Hospital, told independent television station, NTV, the hospital had received 31 people injured in the blast. Chege told the station that six of them were seriously wounded.

 

The last known bombing in Nairobi was in 1998, when the U.S. embassies in downtown Nairobi and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, were simultaneously hit, killing 225 people. An East Africa al-Qaida network was blamed for that bombing.

 

Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed

 

Source.

[Jacaylbaro]

why a restaurant ???

[Biixi]

Who knows..do you think the restaurant was selling animal meat and the bomber has warned the restaurant owner to stop animal products. The man found out from reliable sourcesthat the restaurants was about to slaughter three chickens for lunch "I had to stop this, humans are murdering chickens for no reason".

[nuune]

^^ lol

 

 

I think it is some Joqoro organisation that are behind the bombing, the person who died is the Joqoro himself, this is from KBC News Agent

[Jacaylbaro]

AND WHAT IS JOQORO ???

[Jabhad]

Joqoro=darbi jiif aka homeless.

[Jacaylbaro]

.... thanks weligey maba maqal

[me]

Kenya wants some additional US anti-terror funding. Iska sug farta Soomaalida ayaa lagu fiiqi doonaa.

[Jacaylbaro]

tolow anybody knows where exactly it happened ?? i mean the area and the name of the market where the restaurant is located ,,,,

 

it is clear they will soon say hadhaagii maxkamadaha ,,,

[Separatist]

police are looking for two people of Somali origin who left the parcel at the scene and escaped.

 

Taxi driver seized and key witnesses quizzed over blast

 

Story by DOMINIC WABALA and FRED MUKINDA

Publication Date: 6/12/2007

 

Anti-terrorism police and forensic experts have launched investigations into yesterday’s explosion.

 

The officers were yesterday sifting through debris at the scene to find clues on the type of explosive and its origin.

 

Police sources said a taxi driver suspected to have ferried the two suspects was being interrogated.

 

Detectives also dusted a dustbin near the scene for fingerprints and carried away samples of the explosive’s residue for testing.

 

They, however, said they did not find bomb remains at the scene.

 

Investigators and officers from the National Security Intelligence Service (NSIS) have also been deployed to track down the two suspects who are said to have handed the parcel with the explosive to a shoe shiner minutes before it exploded.

 

The shoe shiner-cum-hawker was the only person who died during the 8:15am incident in which 37 other people were injured, some of them seriously.

 

Police are looking for two people of Somali origin who left the parcel at the scene and escaped.

 

They were allegedly dropped by a taxi driver and intended to board a bus when the explosion occurred.

 

They ran away from the scene and disappeared into the crowd.

 

“We are looking for the two men who are said to have run away from the scene minutes before the explosion occurred,” one detective said.

 

Led by the police commissioner Mohammed Hussein Ali, CID director Karanja Gatiba and the Anti-Terrorism Police Unit commander Nicholas Kamwende, detectives sealed off the area adjacent to Ambassadeur Hotel where the explosion occurred.

 

Maj-Gen Ali said the incident was a minor explosion which was being treated as a criminal case.

 

“One person died and 31 others were injured during the incident. Everything else has been left to the investigations and we should not speculate,” Maj-Gen Ali told journalists at the scene.

 

Bomb experts with five sniffer dogs searched the scene for clues.

 

Mr Joshua Kilonzi, who claimed to have seen the suspects, said the two were carrying a bag which exploded minutes after he alighted from a bus near the blast scene.

 

Officers from the bomb disposal unit, scenes of crime and CID collected papers with Arab inscriptions and English translations.

 

Several people, including the driver and conductor of a bus that had just departed from the bus stop before the explosion recorded statements over claims that the two suspects tried to board the bus but were stopped.

 

Others who recorded statements included all those who had been in the City Gate Restaurant and its vicinity when the explosion occurred.

 

Police have also recorded statements from some of the injured in various hospitals.

 

According to detectives, the explosive could have blown up before the suspects reached their intended destination.

 

The following is the full statement by Maj-Gen Ali which was issued by police spokesman Eric Kiraithe.

 

“This morning at about 0815hrs, a small explosion occurred outside the City Gate Restaurant situated along Moi Avenue outside the City Centre.

 

"One person was killed and over 30 others were injured. Doctors have confirmed that none of the injuries is life threatening.

 

“Presently, police investigators are pursuing promising leads to ascertain the identity of the perpetrators and possible motive(s) that led to this incident.

 

“To begin with, a post-mortem is being conducted to assist in investigations over the precise cause of death and samples will be sent for further investigations both in local and foreign laboratories.

 

“Additionally, explosives experts and other forensics detectives are going on with investigations. So far, debris from the scene is being examined for traces of explosives. Police are recording statements from persons who were at the scene.

 

“Initial investigations show that the source of the explosion was extremely small. At the scene, only glass windows within a two-metre radius were shattered and injuries sustained are relatively minor. A public service commuter bus which was at the scene had its windscreen shattered and has been driven off to the police yard for further investigations. No traces of combustion or high explosives were detected from the scene.

 

“We understand and appreciate the need to solve such cases expeditiously to allay public concerns that quite often are fanned by rumours or distorted information. It is, however, prudent to be realistic and recognise that all investigations take time.

 

“...We shall periodically provide briefings and updates without jeopardising the conduct of investigations.

 

“I wish to thank all the emergency services for their prompt action and particularly Kenyatta Hospital, St John’s Ambulance and others. In a nutshell, our disaster management procedures worked well.

 

“Most importantly we are appealing to any person with any information on this incident to contact the Police as soon as possible.

 

Source

[Fabregas]

Quote:police are looking for two people of Somali origin who left the parcel at the scene and escaped.

 

get outta here man. These Kenyans clowns want to arrest more Somalis and ship them to Ethiopia prisons!

[nuune]

caanihii daata, Soomaali baa qubtey,

alwaax bololey, Soomaali baa cuntey,

ibriiq afka hore ka go'ey, Soomaali baa jiidey,

ashuun jabey, Soomaali baa dhulka ku ridey,

onkod baa meel ka yeeray, Soomaali weeyaan,

habar baa umushey, Soomaali baa ka danbeesay falkaas,

geel baa habeed ku taal, Soomaali weeyaan waxa u yeelay,

 

 

Kenyaati dhaka duleelana goormuu na bartey Amxaarkii tuunjiga ku saxaroonayey ayaanba taag u la'eenee

[N.O.R.F]

Waar bal isilaaliya (Paragon iyo QL)

[Jacaylbaro]

“One person died and 31 others were injured during the incident

MEESHA WAX BAA KA DHACAY ,,,,,,,

[Pujah]

Whoa this is scary walaahi... we have became the new alqaeda :mad: