Military to search area for more bombs

By Cyrus Ombati

The Department of Defence will deploy remote controlled machines to search for more live bombs in Ngong area where an explosion killed five children.

A team of military personnel will, from Thursday, start the exercise of guiding the robots in an effort to make the area safe.

Military Spokesman Bogita Ongeri said a team had been dispatched to the area for the mission before the real search begins.

"We are meeting the local leaders and provincial administration to do some recce before the real work that will be guided through remote controlled robots begins probably on Thursday," he said.

Ongeri added preliminary findings had shown there were a number of live bombs in wrong hands, which poses a danger to the locals.

Said he: "Some of them are hiding the explosives in toilets and others are using them as bells, which is dangerous given they may explode anytime.

More explosives were found in the Ol Maroroi area of Ewaso Kedong village during a search by the military following Sunday’s tragedy.

And after the explosion, some locals dashed to their houses and flushed out the bombs they had kept as precious materials.

They confessed, saying they did not know they were living with such dangerous material.

The military has been blamed for the deaths after they failed to clear the training field after training.

Ongeri said a special team had been formed and dispatched to the area to carry out the massive search for the devices.

"Military used to train in this area in the 1970’s with these kind of mortar bombs and we moved to other designated areas, but we have learnt that there are some which might have been left behind due to the rugged terrains," he said.

He said the military was no longer using the two-inch mortar bombs.