A 15-year-old girl died in a suspected carbon monoxide poisoning incident in Uplands Village within Salgaa, Nakuru County, while two younger children survived and are receiving treatment.
According to police, the incident was reported on Friday morning at around 9:03 a.m.
Police officers visited the scene and established that the body of, a 15-year-old girl, was found lying on the floor inside a rental house in Uplands Village.
Police suspect the teenager may have died from suffocation caused by fumes from a charcoal stove (jiko) that had been used inside the house overnight.
Two other children aged four, and seven, were rescued alive from the room and rushed to Rongai Dispensary for treatment.
Authorities said the mother of the children was not at home at the time of the incident.
The scene was processed and documented by investigators before the body was moved to the Nakuru Provincial General Hospital mortuary awaiting postmortem examination. Investigations into the incident are ongoing.
Investigations into the circumstances surrounding the deaths are ongoing, police said on Saturday.
Carbon monoxide is regarded a silent killer.
A burning jiko emits carbon monoxide, which is deadly. Carbon monoxide poisoning is more likely to occur when people are asleep.
The team also wants to establish if the officer died from carbon monoxide poisoning or it was set there.
Carbon monoxide poisoning, always referred to as ‘the silent killer’ happens when the toxic odourless gases emitted from burning wood or charcoal mix with blood and affect oxygen circulation in the body.
When one breathes in carbon monoxide, it enters the blood, mixes with the red blood cells’ haemoglobin to form poisonous carboxyhaemoglobin that prevents blood from transporting oxygen.
Elsewhere, a 35-year-old casual labourer died after drowning in a flooded abandoned quarry in Gaitu Village, Nkuene Location, Meru County.
According to police, the incident was reported on Thursday at around 3:00 p.m. Officers from the Directorate of Criminal Investigations in Imenti Central and police officers from Gaitu visited the scene and established that the deceased, identified as Boniface Kirigo Muriuki, had drowned in a quarry filled with rainwater.
Preliminary investigations indicate that Muriuki, who worked as a casual labourer at a nearby quarry site, is believed to have entered the flooded abandoned quarry while attempting to retrieve his mattock, which he had reportedly left there before the site became submerged.
The flooded quarry is alleged to be owned by a man identified as Gerald Mwongera.
The body was retrieved with the assistance of the Meru County Fire and Rescue Team before detectives processed and photographed the scene.
Police said an external examination of the body revealed no visible physical injuries.
The body was later moved to Cottolengo Mission Hospital Mortuary awaiting postmortem examination as investigations continue.
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