A man suspected of attempting to vandalise solar lighting equipment on a billboard died after falling approximately 35 metres from the top of the structure along Lusaka Road near Nyayo Roundabout in Nairobi.
According to police, members of the public alerted officers from Industrial Area Police Station on Monday after spotting the man perched on top of a Juicy Fruit billboard.
Witnesses said he had been on the structure since around 1:30 a.m.
Police officers responded to the scene and attempted to persuade him to climb down, but he declined. They then sought assistance from the Nairobi County Fire Brigade to conduct a rescue operation.
However, at around 6:30 a.m., while emergency responders were still being awaited, the man reportedly threw himself from the top of the billboard and died instantly after hitting the ground.
A search of the scene led to the recovery of a bag containing climbing ropes, assorted tools and solar lighting components.
Investigators suspect the deceased had climbed the billboard with the intention of vandalising and stealing its solar lighting equipment.
The man’s identity had not been established by the time of filing the report.
Police processed and documented the scene before the body was moved to the City Mortuary for preservation as investigations continue.
And police in Nyakach, Kisumu County, are investigating the death of an unidentified man whose decomposing body was recovered from River Sondu Miriu.
The body was spotted floating in the middle of the river near the Agai area on Saturday, prompting members of the public to alert police.
With the assistance of members of the public, the officers retrieved the decomposing body from the river.
The body, which has not yet been identified, was moved to Nyakach Sub-County Mortuary, where it is awaiting a post-mortem examination and formal identification.
Police have commenced investigations to establish the identity of the deceased, the cause of death and the circumstances under which the body ended up in the river.
Elsewhere, police in Nakuru have launched investigations after a man drowned in a hotel swimming pool while spending time with his children.
The deceased, identified as Isaac Rotich, drowned on Saturday afternoon at the swimming pool of Dominion Castle Hotel in the Mchanganyiko area of Nakuru North Sub-County.
According to police, the hotel’s proprietor reported that he received a call at about 4.30 p.m. from a security guard informing him that one of the hotel’s regular customers had drowned in the pool.
Preliminary investigations indicate that Rotich had visited the hotel accompanied by his three children, whose identities are yet to be established. The family was swimming together when the deceased reportedly ventured into the deep end of the pool.
One of the children noticed that their father was in distress and raised the alarm. Hotel staff and other people at the scene rescued him from the water and rushed him to Nairobi Women Hyrax Hospital in Nakuru for treatment.
However, he was pronounced dead on arrival at the hospital.
Police officers visited both the hotel and the hospital as part of the investigation. Detectives interviewed the hotel proprietor, a security guard and the pool attendant to establish the circumstances surrounding the incident.
The body was later transferred to the PNN Mortuary, where it is awaiting a post-mortem examination.
Police said investigations into the drowning are ongoing.
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