Envoy dies

Kenya's ambassador to Brazil Pius Namachanja has collapsed and died in the South American nation.

Witnesses say the envoy might have suffered a heart attack.

Namachanja was posted to Brazil in June 2006, after serving at the National Museums of Kenya.

He helped establish the embassy in South America, becoming the first to represent Kenya in the region.

Details in the Brazilian media said Namachanja died in Uberaba in Minas Gerais state, in the southeast region of Brazil.

He was in this city with 26 other ambassadors to know more about the potential of the zebu cow to produce milk.

"He felt unwell by the end of the afternoon, during a visit to a farm and was taken by ambulance to Hospital das Clínicas da Universidade Federal do Triângulo Mineiro," the reports said.

It was reported that he had four cardio respiratory arrests. The first one at the farm and three others on the way to the hospital while he was in the ambulance.

The doctor at the ambulance made a cardio pulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and used an oxygen tube.

He got to the hospital at 5pm and died around 5.30pm Brazilian time.

This was the second time he was visiting Uberaba.

Latest reports say the body is still in Uberaba and is due to be moved to Brasilia later in the day.

The Kenyan embassy in Brasilia has already contacted the envoy's family and an official from the chancery has already travelled to Uberaba to collect the body.

It is not clear when the body will be flown back to Kenya.