Two children found dead after suspected jiko poisoning in Makueni

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Detectives are investigating an incident where two children were found dead in their house after suspected carbon monoxide poisoning in Kathonzweni, Makueni County.

The carbon monoxide is suspected to have been emitted by a burning jiko that was found in their room in Bondeni village in Ituka Sub-location in the April 25 incident.

Residents said they saw smoke billowing from where the children aged four and three were sleeping when they realized they were dead.

They found the door locked from outside and later realized the lifeless bodies of the two children inside, lying on a mattress facing each other while covered with a blanket.

The mother of the children was missing.

Police said there was some smoke from a jiko which was inside and it is suspected that they could have suffocated due to lack of oxygen.

Police said they want to talk to the children’s mother to establish what happened. The bodies were moved to Makueni Referral hospital mortuary awaiting postmortem.

Officials advise 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 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.

Such cases are common in the country amid a campaign against the use of the jikos in poorly ventilated areas.

Elsewhere in Nyatike, Migori County, a body of a woman was found floating on Ondoche River after suspected drowning.

The body, which had partially decomposed retrieved and moved to Migori Referral Hospital mortuary, awaiting identification and postmortem examination.