A panicked student was killed and 150 more were hurt in a stampede on Sunday when an electrical blast sparked fears of a new Islamist attack on a Kenyan university campus.
Some students jumped from as high as the fifth floor of a hostel at the University of Nairobi campus after the pre-dawn explosion, vice-chancellor Peter Mbithi told AFP.
« It was total chaos because we thought now it is our turn after Garissa, » student Michael Njuguna was quoted by Kenyan media as saying.
A shocked Kenya is on edge after the April 2 attack by Somalia’s Shebab insurgents on Garissa university that killed 148 people, almost all of them students
Education Minister Jacob Kaimenyi said Sunday’s explosion occurred at around 5:30 am while students were sleeping on the university’s Kikuyu campus about 20 kilometres (12 miles) west of the capital.
« A power cable blew up outside the student hostel. The hostel itself was not affected, but the students thought it was an attack, » said Mbithi.
« Some students jumped out, » and « there was also a stampede », said Mbithi. « One student died after jumping from the fifth floor.

AFP