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Green bag causes stampede at an Embakasi eatery

By ADAM WANJALA December 9th, 2013 1 min read

A large bag apparently forgotten by its owner caused a stampede in a restaurant in Embakasi Monday morning.

Clients who had flocked the restaurant for their breakfast took to their heels leaving their half-eaten meals on the table.

Panic started spreading around the eatery after the receptionist unsuccessfully tried to trace the owner of the green bag.

When nobody owned up, she quickly locked up the counter and took off saying she was going to get the police to confirm what could be in the bag.

The mention of what could have been in the bag is what triggered alarm among those who were eating.

They took off and gathered outside the restaurant, attracting a large crowd as word spread fast.

Police from the local station who came to the scene to inspect the luggage found only a bundle of clothes inside.

‘’We had to leave the hotel as fast as possible, thinking they might be terrorists who had left explosives in the hotel,’’ said one of the customers who spoke to NairobiNews.

He said the bag could have been forgotten by two people who had left the restaurant in an apparent rush to catch a bus at a nearby terminus.

Abandoned or unattended bags have in recent times caused panic among street crowds, a situation largely attributed to nasty experience with explosives which criminals have in the past used, killing and maiming unsuspecting residents.