A nurse at Coast Provincial General hospital in Mombasa attending to one of the blast victim. Photo / Laban Walloga
By Nation Reporter and AFP
Posted Sunday, April 1 2012 at 11:56
Posted Sunday, April 1 2012 at 11:56
Security has been beefed up on key installations within Mombasa following twin blasts in Mtwapa and Tononoka on Saturday evening.
The blasts killed one person and injured others who were attending an open-air prayer crusade in Mtwapa at about 6.30pm.
The Red Cross Tracing and Psychosocial support desk set up at the Coast Provincial General Hospital stated that a total of 33 injured people had been received, 31 from Mtwapa and 2 from Tononoka. Among them was a boy and a girl aged 12 and 11 years respectively.
All the 33 injured have been identified and their family and friends are informed of their progress.
Four have been taken to the theater and one taken to Intensive Care Unit. Six have been discharged.
On Sunday, the Coast Provincial commissioner Ernest Munyi assured residents of their security, urging them to continue with their normal lives.
“Let nobody fear of anything as we are on top of things over what happened in Mtwapa and Tononoka on Saturday,” he said in a telephone interview.
The administrator's reassurance however failed to assuage a number of foreign investors who threatened to move their businesses to other countries.
The investors told the Nation on Sunday that they have been receiving threats to their lives. They accused the Police of inaction even afterc reports are made.
“I have been receiving threats to my life through telephone messages and when I reported the matter to police, they told me that they are waiting for a report from telephone service providers. What I do not understand is why the investigations are taking long,” said Mr David Stevenson who is an owner of a chain of hotels in Diani, South Coast.
He added; “What I feel is that there is laxity in addressing the matter while the threats keep on going on and on.”
The Coast PC appealed to wananchi to volunteer information about suspicious strangers within their localities.
The security forces, according to Mr Munyi, have installed security systems to monitor all soft installations that could be targeted.
“For example, the Likoni ferry channel is under a 24-hour watch by our surveillance cameras that record proceedings there,” he said.
Kenya Ferry Service managing director Musa Hassan Musa asked motorists and commuters to adhere to their operational regulations to avoid any nasty incidents.
“Likoni channel is the largest terminus in East and Central Africa that is used by many people and vehicles on daily basis,” said Mr Musa.
He cautioned users to be alert of suspicious characters whom they should report to security personnel.
At the terminus plain clothes and uniformed police officers 'frisked’ people and inspected vehicles on both sides of the crossing channel.
No one immediately claimed Saturday's attacks and the authorities have not commented on who might be behind them. (READ: Twin explosions rock Mombasa)
Since Kenya sent tanks and troops into Somalia late last year, a whole series of grenade attacks and explosions have taken place, both in Nairobi and in eastern towns and camps housing Somali refugees close to the border.
Targets have ranged from police vehicles to local bars and churches. The Kenyan authorities often blame such attacks on Somalia's Al Qaeda-affiliated Al-Shabaab rebels.
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