Attack type Bus bombings Date 4 May 2014 Location Nairobi | Non-fatal injuries 62 Total number of deaths 3 | |
Location Thika Road, Nairobi, Kenya Similar 2002 Mombasa attacks, 2011–14 terrorist attacks in, 1998 United States em, Westgate shopping mall shoo | ||
Nairobi bus bombings kill at least three injure 60
On 4 May 2014, two improvised explosive devices exploded on buses in Nairobi, Kenya, killing three people and injuring sixty-two. Both of the bombs exploded northeast of Nairobi on the Thika Road, an eight-lane controlled-access highway, and detonated 1 kilometre (0.62 mi) apart. Twenty of the wounded were in critical condition after the blast.
Contents
Two killed dozens wounded in twin nairobi bus bombings
Background
In October 2011, Kenya deployed soldiers in a coordinated operation with the Somalian military against the Al-Shabaab militant group in southern Somalia. Al-Shabaab vowed to launch attacks in Kenya in retaliation. In April 2014, Kenyan authorities announced a security operation, after several terrorist attacks.
On 3 May 2014, three people were killed and fifteen injured when a hand grenade was detonated inside a bus in Mombasa, Kenya. In another incident which occurred on the same day, an improvised explosive device was deposited within a bag on a beach. The bag was noticed, and no casualties were reported after "people took cover".
Attack
On 4 May 2014, when the 45-seater buses were "packed with commuters", two bombs exploded on different buses around 1 kilometre (0.62 mi) apart. The explosions occurred outside a hotel, and in an underpass. According to Kenya's National Disaster Operations Centre, twenty of the injured people were in a critical condition after the blast. Photos showed that one bus had a large hole in the side, and the other had its doors and windows blown off. The majority of casualties were women and children.
Initial responses
Reports differed over the nature of the explosive devices, with some saying the "homemade explosive devices" were grenades. Initial casualty reports were of two dead and twenty-seven wounded, but that number increased as time progressed. No group or individual came forward to claim responsibility for the attacks. However, the Kenyan government blamed Al-Shabaab for the incidents.
Reactions
Kenyan Vice President William Ruto stated that "security agencies are in pursuit of the perpetrators of this heinous and cowardly act", while Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta said that "the terrorists will be treated as the vicious criminals they are".