Minor dies out of suffocation from carbon monoxide. A two-year-old girl was found dead after she had suffocated from carbon monoxide emanating from a burning jiko in a house in Biafra, Buruburu estate, Nairobi. The police said the body was found on Thursday morning by a friend.
Police reported that her mother, aged 28, was rushed to hospital in serious condition following the incident. The woman is said to have gone to sleep after leaving a burning jiko in her house.
She locked the house so that it could be warmer following rains that were experienced. She however did not know burning jiko is a safety hazard when used improperly.
The visiting friend had to break into the house only to find the woman and the two-year-old unresponsive.
Police visited the scene and said there was a burning jiko in the house which is believed to have caused the death.
Carbon monoxide is regarded as a silent killer. A burning jiko emits carbon monoxide, which is deadly. Carbon monoxide poisoning is more likely to occur when people are asleep.
Carbon monoxide poisoning, always referred to as ‘the silent killer’, happens when the toxic odourless gases emitted from charcoal mix with blood and interfere with 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 carboxyhemoglobin that prevents blood from transporting oxygen.
Officials also warn against the use of jiko in poorly ventilated places.
Elsewhere, a woman was found murdered in a domestic feud in Ayego, Uriri, Migori County. The body of Emily Atieno, 43, was found in her compound after the murder on April 29.
The woman had engaged in a quarrel with her husband in the house.
Police who visited the scene said the body had a deep cut in the neck and lay in a pool of blood.
The body was moved to the mortuary pending an autopsy and investigation. The assailant escaped the scene and efforts to arrest him are ongoing, police said.
