A shootout between police and suspected robbers killed five people on Monday in a hotel and casino parking lot in Kenya’s capital, police and witnesses said.
The late-morning shootout happened in a parking lot shared by the upscale Holiday Inn hotel and the Mayfair Casino.
”We were very lucky there were not many guests around,” said Paul Norman, general manager of Holiday Inn. He said the hotel’s security service had immediately put up safety gates to prevent anyone from entering.
Three of the victims were robbery suspects, but two were casino employees who were caught in the crossfire, deputy police spokesperson Charles Owino said.
Lydia Ayuma said her husband, Zedekiah Imbote (37), was a security guard at the casino and was killed in the crossfire. ”He was not a bully. He was a normal man,” she said.
The hotel and casino are in the residential Parklands area of Nairobi, near two shopping malls and upscale homes.
Violent crime has long been a problem in Kenya’s capital, which residents have nicknamed ”Nairobbery”.
A surge of politically and ethnically motivated violence erupted after a disputed presidential election in December laid bare frustrations over poverty, corruption and long-standing ethnic rivalries in Kenya. More than 1 300 people were killed and hundreds of thousands displaced during weeks of bloodshed.
Kenya lost up to $1-billion this year because of the turmoil, which damaged the country’s vital tourism industry. — Sapa-AP