Nine people have been discharged from the Kenyatta National Hospital after receiving treatment for injuries sustained in a grenade attack at a nightclub in Nairobi that left 13 people injured.
The grenade was thrown into the Mwauras club early on Monday morning. Police are blaming Somali militants al-Shabab for the attack.
KNH Deputy Director Clinical Services Dr Simon Monda said four other victims are being reviewed by various specialists for further management.
He said majority of the them sustained minor injuries caused by sharp objects. Speaking to journalists at the hospital, Dr monda said two patients who sustained facial and limb injuries will undergo surgery.
He said the first [patient was brought in by the Nairobi City Council ambulance at 2.30am. The police have also refuted reports that two people died in the blast that went off at 1.am.
The deadly attack comes amidst heightened security in the country following threats from Somali terrorist group Al Shabaab.
Police are urging members of the public to remain alert following the grenade attack.
The attack comes a week after Kenya sent troops to Somalia to track down members of the group, which Nairobi blames for several kidnappings.
Al-Shabab threatened reprisals if the troops did not leave. The al-Qaeda-linked Islamist group, which controls much of southern and central Somalia, has denied carrying out any abductions.
‘Imminent threat’
“Initial investigations show it is a grenade that was thrown inside,” said Nairobi police chief Eric Mugambi.
Witnesses say the blast went off shortly after 03:00 (0000 GMT). They say a man hurled a grenade and fled the scene.
Lawrence Kioko, who was injured in the attack, told Reuters: “I heard an explosion – there was darkness and I thought the electricity had gone out but when I touched my face, there was blood.”
“The guys came out running covered in blood. We helped them wash the blood off and they were carried away in ambulances,” Jacob Musembi, an eyewitness, told Reuters.
Police cordoned off the area. No group has so claimed responsibility for the attack.
Deputy police chief Charles Owino “we know that there are al-Shabab sympathisers in Nairobi,” he said. “But it could also have been a business dispute. It is too early to say.”
Last week, the government announced it would carry out a major security operation in Nairobi to flush out al-Shabab sympathisers once its Somalia operation had ended.
The US embassy in Nairobi warned on Saturday of an “imminent threat” of attacks in Kenya.
Security in key towns in Kenya has been put on a high alert following the Al shabaab threats.
Source- http://www.kbc.co.ke/news.asp?nid=73099
