Kilifi Kenya: Police shot and seriously injured a man who went to Kilifi county referral hospital on Saturday night and posed as a patient before he attempted to commit suicide by setting himself on fire.
The man who had first recorded at the hospital as Osman Man a female aged 16 years claiming that he had gone to collect drugs for a relative, later went to the casualty ward and explained to the medical personal present that he was suffering from severe chest pains and required some medication.
When the medics were about to attend to him, he is said to have started picking spirits from the shelves which he began drinking then sprinkled some on his clothes.
When the medic suspected danger, the man who is said to have carried a match box with him, attempted to set himself ablaze but the tongues of flames missed him and burnt down some items within the casualty office.
Efforts by the hospital security team to intervene and control the man who seemed to have run amok did not bear fruits as the medics fled for their safety.
Police were called in to save the situation and when they arrived at around 1am, they had to shoot him after he became hostile.
The police, who also used tear gas to contain the unapproachable strong man, later shot him twice one bullet on the leg and hand injuring him.
He was than confronted, put into an ambulance before being rushed to Mombasa for mental examination and treatment of the injuries he had sustained.
Kilifi governor, Amason Kingi who arrived at the hospital soon after the incident dismissed claims that the man could have been linked to other unknown criminals to cause havoc at the hospital.
Kingi said the matter should be left to doctors who will examine the suspect and later give their report that will confirm the man’s mental status.
'We should not start spreading rumours that the suspect could have been in a group of other suspected criminals who were out to cause problem at the hospital and this matter should be left to the medical personnel to examine him' said Kingi.
Kilifi county police commandeer Joseph Nthenge described the incident as a normal crime and also dismissed rumours that the suspect could have been having a hidden agenda by invading the health facility at night.
'We are treating this occurrence as a normal crime and it's too early to suggest that the man could have been working with members of a terror group to cause problems at the hospital' said Nthenge.
The police boss however said they have launched investigations to get the motive of the suspect who invaded the public hospital and burnt property in the casualty office.
Witnesses at the hospital claimed to know the suspect saying he has been involved in criminal offences.
However, some staff wondered why the suspect registered at the hospital as a female patient with most of them alleging that the latter could be a member of the outlawed Mombasa Republican Council.
