Scores injured after stadium stampede in Machakos

Trouble started when thousands of citizens, who had been locked out of the venue due to the limited sitting space inside the stadium, attempted to force their way in, moments after President Uhuru Kenyatta arrived.PHOTO: COURTESY

Several people were injured after chaos broke out outside Kenyatta Stadium in Machakos town, the venue of yesterday’s Mashujaa Day national celebrations.

Trouble started when thousands of citizens, who had been locked out of the venue due to the limited sitting space inside the stadium, attempted to force their way in, moments after President Uhuru Kenyatta arrived.

But officers from the Administration Police, General Service Unit, Anti-riot police as well as the National Youth Service (NYS) swung into action to disperse the agitated crowd that was chanting "haki yetu" (our right) slogan.

Following the fracas, dozens of people sustained injuries, one of them critical. They were taken to Machakos Level 5 Referral Hospital in ambulances as the crowd protested at the brutality of NYS officers who they accused of beating civilians.

"Why do you want to kill me on Mashujaa Day and I am not armed or a threat to anybody's security?" shouted one of the victims of brutal beatings by NYS officers. One journalist, who was filming the fracas, was also beaten up and ordered to turn off his camera.