British soldiers injured in bar brawl

 By Job Weru

British Army soldiers engaged in a fierce fight in a Nanyuki hotel that left scores of them injured.

The fight erupted when two groups of British Army soldiers from Scotland and Ireland clashed after one group accused the other of being reckless drivers and causing accidents within Nanyuki area.

Police said five soldiers who suffered serious injuries were airlifted to Nairobi Hospital for specialised treatment.

Laikipia East OCPD Mr Joshua Lutukai said a fight ensued between the soldiers on Friday after a disagreement at a bar at Sportsman Arms Hotel.

Lutukai said two soldiers were treated at Cottage Hospital and allowed to go back to the nearby British Army Training Camp in Nanyuki, while the other five were flown to Nairobi hospital for specialised treatment.

The soldiers, according to Lutukai, suffered serious head, limbs and rib injuries.

The police chief said scores of other soldiers were injured during the Friday night brawl that also left property estimated at about Sh150,000 destroyed at the hotel.

Ms Carol Muriuki, a patron who was at the bar when the fights erupted said the soldiers disrupted business at the hotel after the fights spread to other tables where other patrons sat.

"Police came in riot gear but they could not also calm the soldiers, and they resorted to arrest some call girls who were with them, but we could not wait. We just went home and left them fighting," said Muriuki.

Laikipia DCIO Mr Shadrack Uman Juma said senior British Army officers arrived at the hotel and pledged to take necessary action.

"They told us everything was under their control and even refused to give us names of the victims," said Juma.

However, Lutukai and Juma said no civilian was hurt in the fight.

A source at the hotel told The Standard that the fights lasted more than two hours and the soldiers only stopped fighting after their combat wing intervened.