Four people were killed in Kenya's capital Nairobi on Thursday after security forces fired shots and teargas to disperse huge crowds at a stadium where the body of deceased opposition leader Raila Odinga was lying in state, local media reported.
Odinga, a major figure for decades in Kenyan politics who was once a political prisoner and ran unsuccessfully for president five times, died on Wednesday aged 80 in India, where he had been receiving medical treatment.
With thousands of his supporters on the streets from early morning, chaos erupted when a huge crowd breached a gate of Nairobi's main stadium, prompting soldiers to fire in the air, a Reuters witness said.
A police source told Reuters that two people were shot dead at the stadium. KTN News and Citizen TV later said the death toll had increased to four, with scores of people injured.
After security forces fired shots, police lobbed tear gas to disperse thousands of mourners, the two broadcasters showed, leaving the stadium deserted.
Earlier in the day, thousands of mourners briefly stormed Nairobi's international airport, interrupting a ceremony for President William Ruto and other officials to receive Odinga's body with military honours.
Kenyan security forces fired in the air and used tear gas to disperse thousands of mourners on Thursday at a stadium where deceased opposition leader Raila Odinga's body was on view.
With Odinga's supporters taking to the streets in his honour, President William Ruto and other officials went to the airport to receive his body with military honours.
But as the coffin was being removed from the plane's cargo, mourners waving twigs and flags - some on motorbikes - overran the airside, interrupting part of the ceremony, according to a Reuters reporter and footage.
The crowd later backed away from the plane, but the chaos prompted a two-hour suspension of airport operations.
Elsewhere, some Odinga supporters climbed on the gates of parliament, where the government had scheduled a public viewing of his body. The venue for that was changed to a Nairobi sports stadium, his party said.
Though mainly known as an opposition figure, Odinga did become prime minister in 2008 and also struck a political pact with Ruto last year in a career of shifting alliances.
He commanded passionate devotion among his Luo tribe, based in western Kenya, many of whom believe he was cheated of the presidency by electoral fraud.
Maritime trackers received new reports of an attack on a ship in the Strait of Hormuz on Sunday, according to the ...
A Kyiv-Warsaw train was struck near the Polish border, Ukraine's state railway firm said on Sunday. No passengers were injured. Ukrai...
Indonesian rescuers are searching for 130 people after a passenger ship carrying 243 people sank in the Java Sea following bad weather, while 113 p...
Maritime trackers received new reports of an attack on a ship in the Strait of Hormuz on Sunday, according to the UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO), adding to concerns about energy supplies after Saudi Arabia shut down a vital oil pipeline on Saturday.
A Kyiv-Warsaw train was struck near the Polish border, Ukraine's state railway firm said on Sunday. No passengers were injured. Ukrainian Railways said that the country's railways were facing systematic attacks for a second day and warned of widespread delays.
Dubai’s property market has spent years climbing. Now, for the first time since 2021, prices are moving in the opposite direction.
Saudi Arabia has temporarily shut down its 1,200-kilometre East-West oil pipeline after it was hit by a drone attack, with Riyadh and Baghdad saying the strike originated from Iraq.
Swedes vote in an election on Sunday (13 September) that could see the far-right enter government for the first time if the country's right-wing parties can form a majority.
A Kyiv-Warsaw train was struck near the Polish border, Ukraine's state railway firm said on Sunday. No passengers were injured. Ukrainian Railways said that the country's railways were facing systematic attacks for a second day and warned of widespread delays.
Indonesian rescuers are searching for 130 people after a passenger ship carrying 243 people sank in the Java Sea following bad weather, while 113 people have been evacuated and six have died, the country’s search and rescue agency said on Sunday.
China will lead the creation of an open source platform among BRICS members to promote cooperation on large language models, Chinese President Xi Jinping said on Sunday.
Swedes vote in an election on Sunday (13 September) that could see the far-right enter government for the first time if the country's right-wing parties can form a majority.
Philippine rescuers recovered 41 more charred remains from a ferry fire on Saturday (12 September), taking the death toll to 76, while 13 people remained unaccounted for as forensic teams worked to identify the victims.
You can download the AnewZ application from Play Store and the App Store.
What is your opinion on this topic?
Leave the first comment