Mystery as man who escaped from city quarantine centre is arrested in Kericho
Kenyans have been left puzzled after a suspect who recently escaped from a quarantine centre in Nairobi was arrested in Kericho county.
Directorate of Criminal Investigations officers pounced on the man at Tiriitap Moita area in Bureti constituency on Thursday afternoon.
“We have arrested the suspect who has been transferred to an isolation centre at Kapkatet sub county hospital,” said Bureti Police sub county police commander Felician Nafula.
Ms Nafula, who promised to shed more light on the matter later, said in a brief statement that it was suspected the man had escaped from the Kenya Medical Training College (KMTC) in Nairobi along with others earlier in the week.
The arrest caused panic in the area in the face of the coronavirus outbreak in the region.
“It is scary that a man could escape from a quarantine centre and travel all the way to Bureti from Nairobi to mingle freely with the residents,” said Mr Geoffrey Rono Kataress, a resident of Litein town.
Nairobi is under partial lockdown with the government having banned travel into and out of the city.
It is believed that more than 15 people who were being held in isolation at KMTC Nairobi recently escaped by scaling a perimeter wall.
The incident comes hardly a week after a woman and her spouse disappeared from a quarantine centre at Nyagacho in Kericho town only to be arrested later in Kisii county by the police.