By ALLY JAMAH
There is a new puzzle on the Saitoti chopper crash — co-pilot Luke Oyugi’s body bore significant amount of a poisonous gas not found in the other bodies from the helicopter.
But curiously the blood sample taken from former Internal Security minister Prof George Saitoti did not show traces of the killer gas but still no sample was given to the Government Chemist from the bodies of the other three people killed in the crash.
But strangely, the blood of the senior pilot who sat to the right of Oyugi in the ill-fated flight did not show this kind of poisoning and yet they were in close quarters.
It was not immediately clear why samples were taken from three crash victims only.
An expert dropped the startling and puzzling revelation at the commission of inquiry probing the crash that claimed the lives of Saitoti, his assistant minister Orwa Ojode, as well as two police pilots and two bodyguards.
The team led by Justice Kalpana Rawal heard Captain Luke Oyugi had highly toxic levels of carbon monoxide he could have inhaled during the ill-fated flight or before that.
Assistant Government Chemist Mrs Joyce Wairimu Njoya testified toxicological tests done on Oyugi’s blood sample indicated 68.6% carbon monoxide poisoning, a level that would normally kill a victim since it was way above tolerable limits.
It is not clear whether Oyugi fell unconscious moments into the flight as a result of the excessive poisoning of his blood or was disoriented by the high concentrations of the toxic gas in his system. Alternatively, the deadly poisoning could also have occurred before he boarded the plane that morning.
Toxicological analysis of senior pilot Lucy Gituanja’s blood sample indicated no carbon monoxide toxicity, despite being closest to Oyugi in the plane.
Saitoti was in the back seat.
The discrepancy in blood contamination sparked questions and concern from lawyers representing the crash victims, especially that of the Saitoti family.
Carbon monoxide is emitted when a fire burns in an enclosed place with limited oxygen and inhaling it prevents red blood cells from picking oxygen and feeding the cells. “The toxicological tests conducted on June 12 indicated that Oyugi’s blood was significantly poisoned by carbon monoxide. I would not be in a position to know under what circumstances the poisoning happened,” said Njoya
Carbon monoxide is a toxic colourless, odourless and tasteless gas that is initially non-irritating and is difficult for people to detect.
Exhaust fumes of helicopters and planes also produce the deadly gas. Should a malfunction leak the gas into a plane it may kill the passengers.
Under cross-examination from lawyer Fred Ngatia who is representing the Saitoti family, and Assisting State Counsel James Warui, Njoya admitted “the possibility” that Oyugi could have inhaled the toxic levels of the gas mid-air before the crash. The ill-fated copter was in the air for around five minutes before crashing violently into Kibiku Forest.
Ngatia asserted: “You can only inhale a gas when you are alive and breathing. You can’t inhale it when you are dead. This means that the late Oyugi was inhaling the gas while he was still alive.”
In his testimony on Monday, John Mungai, an analyst at the Government Chemist indicated that a person in a low-oxygen environment is more likely to unconsciously increase his rate of breathing to suck in more air. He added that if that air were poisonous, he would inadvertently inhale more poison and accelerate his death.
The helicopter crashed on June 10 over Kibuki Forest in Ngong area killing Saitoti, Ojodeh and two police bodyguards, Joshua Tonkei and Thomas Murimi, as well as pilots Gituanja and Oyugi.
The samples were submitted to the Government Chemist on June 12, two days after the crash by a Chief Inspector at Ngong Police Station, Mr Moses Mwangi. “I cannot understand the discrepancy in the toxicological tests for the three persons. All I know is that I conducted the tests and those were the results I got,” said Njoya.
She could not determine how long such a high level of intoxication could have taken, saying it depends on the circumstances and concentrations of the gas.
Lawyers also wondered why the final toxicology report about Captain Gituanja came out on June 22, some 12 days after despite being submitted on June 12 June. “When we carry out an analysis, we usually handle many specimens at a go and reports may not necessarily come out on the same day,” Njoya said.
Mr Kairu Munyoki, an analyst at the Government Chemist, testified that tests for explosive material in the samples of debris taken from the site returned a negative result.
The hearings are expected to continue today with witnesses to the crash expected to share information they have regarding the accident.
Tomorrow, the doctor who conducted the post-mortem examination on the six bodies will give his testimony with regard to the severe injuries recorded in his report.
Last month, the team investigating the deaths was stunned to learn that an unlicenced technician inspected the crash chopper. Mr Humphrey Bulimu, a technician with Kenya Police Airwing revealed how he conducted the pre-flight inspection on the Sunday that it crashed despite not being licenced by Kenya Civil Aviation Authority (KCAA).
He also carried out 33 crucial inspections of the plane despite his skills being uncertified.
It emerged that the officer was not among the police technicians taken to South Africa earlier this year for training on inspecting and maintaining the AS350 B3e helicopter.
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