A 22-year-old woman was found dead in her house in Nairobi’s Huruma area after a suspected carbon monoxide poisoning.
Police said the body of
Joy Makena was found in her house on Monday evening, long after she had died.
The door to the house was
locked when the boyfriend arrived to check on her, police said.
This forced him and his
neighbours to break in to access the scene.
Police said a charcoal
stove was found next to the body, which lay on the bed with its legs hanging.
It had cooked beans on
it. Police suspect she died from carbon monoxide poisoning from the burning
jiko.
The house was poorly
ventilated at that time, which is believed to have worsened the situation.
The body was moved to the
mortuary pending autopsy.
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 wants to establish if the woman died from carbon monoxide
poisoning or it was set there..
Carbon monoxide poisoning, 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.
Officials
warn against use of jiko in poorly ventilated places.
Elsewhere in Chesumei,
Nandi County, the body of a man was found in an open pit in a school compound.
The body was found in the
pit at St. Francis Cheptarit Girls High School.
The decomposing body of
the middle-aged male was floating in an open pit within the school farm.
Due to the level of decomposition, police officers could not immediately establish whether the body had injuries or not.
It is believed that the deceased was an intruder who
accidentally or otherwise fell in the unmarked pit.
The body was retrieved
from the pit and taken to Nandi Hills sub-county hospital mortuary awaiting
identification and autopsy.
Police said they are investigating the incident.
