Two people died and dozens were injured in a stampede at the state funeral of Kenya’s revered opposition leader, Raila Odinga, on Friday as crowds rushed to see his coffin, Doctors Without Borders said.
It came a day after at least three people were killed when security forces opened fire to disperse a crowd that had gathered to see Odinga’s body in a separate ceremony. Odinga, 80, died from a suspected heart attack at a health clinic in southern India on Wednesday, triggering a huge outpouring of grief for a man known affectionately as “Baba” (father) by many Kenyans.
Friday’s state funeral began calmly at Nairobi’s Nyayo stadium, with President William Ruto telling the crowd that Odinga “walked among us as a man but also charged among us as a movement for change, a movement for justice… for a better and greater Kenya.”
Moments later, a surge of mourners trying to reach the coffin on the pitch turned deadly. AFP journalists saw people trampled underfoot, leaving some with broken bones or difficulty breathing.
Medical charity Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said emergency responders “attended to 163 patients and referred 34 others for further care”.
