A bursary issuance exercise in Githurai 45, Kiambu county, turned tragic when one person was killed and several others were left injured following a stampede.
According to eyewitness statements, trouble started when the crowd started fighting over who would receive the bursary forms first. It was during this stampede that the deceased was pushed to the ground and ran over by the thousands of applicants.
The deceased, 45-year-old James Atanga had been allocated number 783 before the crowd started pushing around on the queues. “Three other women were also injured and rushed to a nearby hospital,” eyewitness Caste Kawira recalled.
He was rushed to a nearby hospital but was pronounced dead on arrival at Kenyatta University Teaching, Research and Referral Hospital where he had been transferred for advanced treatment.
Atanga’s wife Pamela Munyangi told the media that her husband left at dawn to collect a bursary form for their child who is in Form Four. According to her, the father of two received a call from a friend at about 6 am, asking him to go and collect a bursary form.
“When he got there, there were so many people who were disorderly, pushing each other and fighting for a space in the queue. My husband fell and succumbed from the stampede,” she complained.
