Quarantined South African woman 'kills herself' in Nakuru

A hostel at Kenya Industrial Training Institute in Nakuru where some travellers into the country are being quarantined in fight against coronavirus. A South African woman was found dead in one of the hostels on Friday. PHOTO | CHEBOITE KIGEN | NATION MEDIA GROUP

What you need to know:

  • The victim, an employee of a local firm, was placed on forced quarantine in Nakuru after officials found out that she recently arrived in the country and was not self-isolating.

A 27-year-old South African woman, who had been placed on a 14-day mandatory quarantine in Nakuru, was on Friday morning found dead in her isolation room.

The body of the victim was found dangling from the rooftop of a room at the at the Kenya Industrial Training Institute (KITI), officials said.

Nakuru County Health executive Gichuki Kariuki confirmed the death but did not give more details.

Health workers, who went to the institution Friday to check on those quarantined, say Ms Elizabeth Holloway committed suicide using a piece of cloth.

The woman had on Thursday complained about deplorable conditions at hostels, a source told the Nation.

"She called some officials and requested to be transferred," the source said.

The victim, an employee of a local firm, was placed on forced quarantine in Nakuru after officials found out that she recently arrived in the country and was not self-isolating.

At the college she was quarantined alongside three others including Samuel Ruto, an Eldoret-based athlete, who arrived in the country on Sunday.

Residents who had interacted with the South African woman before her death described her as jovial.

John  Ombati, a local, said he bumped into the woman once outside the hostels and she said that she was looking for food then go back to her isolation room.

"Natafuta chakula, lakini nitarudi huko," she said in Kiswahili, Mr Ombati claims.