Striking nurses release mentally ill patients to the streets
This photo taken on March 6, 2014 shows the entrance to Mathari Hospital. Police have been deployed to the facility to secure patients. PHOTO | JEFF ANGOTE | NATION MEDIA GROUP
What you need to know:
- Police are investigating several striking nurses over the incident.
Police have been deployed to Mathari Hospital to secure patients after nurses on strike allegedly released 81 mentally ill patients.
One of the patients seized by police sustained injuries after he was hit by a vehicle on Thika superhighway.
Seventy one others have since been returned safely to the facility by police officers.
A manhunt is on for 10 others still on the loose.
PROBE
At the same time, police are investigating several striking nurses over the incident.
"A group of striking nurses came to the wards in the pretext they were offering treatment and facilitated escape of 81 mentally ill patients who ran in different directions.
"A search led to recapture of 71 patients," a police report seen by the Nation read.
CRIME
The injured patient was described by police as a 37-year-old who sustained "facial injuries and bruises".
The incident is now being treated as serious crime and the nurses involved are scheduled for investigation.
The matter was first reported to police by the hospital's superintendent.
