Minor dies after suffocation from burning jiko in Machakos

A 14-year-old girl was found dead after suspected carbon monoxide poisoning in Oldonyosabuk, Matungulu, Machakos County.

The body of the girl was found in a closed room where she was alone on Sunday February 9 morning, police said.

Besides her bed, according to police, there were burnt beans that had boiled in a jiko overnight.

The body did not have any visible injuries when it was picked up and taken to the mortuary.

Police said the house was poorly ventilated and concluded she died of poisoning by the carbon monoxide.

The body was moved to Machakos General Referral Hospital pending autopsy.

Police advised against using jikos in poorly ventilated rooms.

Carbon monoxide poisoning, always referred to as ‘the silent killer’ happens when the toxic odourless gases emitted from burning wood or charcoal mixes with blood and affect oxygen circulation in the body.

“When you breathe in carbon monoxide, it enters the blood, mixes with the red blood cells haemoglobin to form poisonous carboxyhaemoglobin that prevents blood from transporting oxygen,” reads a report from WHO. The signs of carbon monoxide poisoning include headache, dizziness, shortness of breath, abdominal pain, stomach upset, vomiting, chest pain, blocked nose, running nose, red eyes and confusion. Carbon monoxide poisoning is more likely to occur when people are asleep.

Elsewhere in Agulo Kituo village, Mbita, Homabay the body of a 16-year-old boy was found hanging on a truss of a roof in his room.

Police said the body had a rope tied around his neck.

The boy was a grade nine pupil at a local school.

The motive for the incident is not yet known. The body was moved to a local mortuary awaiting autopsy.

In Kwambira, Muranga County, a man died by suicide in his mother’s kitchen.

Police found the body of Eliud Ndembu, 44 hanging on the roof rafters with a manila rope tied around his neck inside the kitchen of his mother.

The body had no physical injuries and no suicide note was found at the scene.

The body was moved to the mortuary awaiting postmortem.