STEPHEN MUDIARI | NATION Relatives of the blast victims are consoled by friends in Ewaso Kedong division, Ngong on May 8, 2011.
Two more bombs were found in Ngong on Monday, a few hours after a fifth victim of Sunday’s blast died in hospital.
Bomb disposal experts safely detonated the bombs, one of which was found in the home of an elderly woman who was using it as an exercise weight, in a controlled explosion.
Ms Rahab Meja said she stopped using it last month after some manual labourers warned her that she could be playing with a bomb.
“I was shocked because I felt like my house was coming down. I had no idea it was a bomb, God is good because the explosive did not go off in my hands. I don’t want to look at such material again and I won’t touch any,” she said after the bomb was detonated.
The fifth boy died at Kenyatta National Hospital from wounds sustained in the explosion on Sunday morning. (READ: Tragedy as four boys are killed in bomb blast)
Mr John Kasale, the headteacher of Ol Maroroi Primary School where the boys were studying, described them as bright pupils.
“The death of the five pupils will affect the school a lot. There was a low turnout because many stayed away due to what happened,” he said. The school has 178 pupils.
Mr Kasale said this was the second tragedy to hit the area in five months, after three students were swept to their death by flush floods in December.
Last year, a pupil from Saigeri Primary school lost an eye after a ‘toy’ he was playing with exploded.
On Monday, Mr Maamet Kishu was lost for words as he mourned his two children, Elijah Panai, 8, and Isaiah Sunguya, 6.
“Panai wished to become a pilot. He used to tell me that he wanted to fly an aeroplane after school, while Sunguya wanted to be a doctor.
“The two children had just come from church and joined their friend to look after some calves,” said Mr Kishu.
He heard an explosion and later found out that his children were dead.
“I feel a lot of pain and the blame is on the people who left the unexploded munitions. Much as compensation would be welcome it cannot ease his pain,” he said.
Another resident said the explosions were not new, except that they were used to blasts from the training range and not on their farms.
“We are now used to the loud explosions whenever the military or the administration police are training, said Mr Sambeta Yukoyo.
The training range was a communal grazing land before it turned into a tomb of death for the residents.
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