Nairobi — In what could probably be the goof of the year, police in Nanyuki took ten dead chicken to the local mortuary thinking they were foetuses.
It was not until Monday, more than 15 hours after the ten dead birds had been placed in the coolers in the morgue that it was discovered that they were not human bodies.
What were initially thought to be foetuses were collected from Nanyuki town on Sunday afternoon by police.
A former street boy who is involved in rehabilitation of a local dumpsite, Mr George Kanyi, had spotted a vehicle offloading the waste at around 11 am near the entrance to the 100-acre garbage site.
When he approached the vehicle, it was driven away at high speed after disposing the sacks which had blood spots.
A foul smell, like one from rotting flesh was emanating from the dumped waste which had been wrapped in three gunny bags prompting Mr Kanyi to think they could be foetuses.
“The vehicle that dumped the waste had its registration numbers concealed. This made me suspicious and I reported to the police that some foetuses had been dumped at the garbage site,” said Mr Kanyi.
Police later visited the site and took the grisly find to the mortuary.
They did not bother to confirm what was inside the bags and when they were taken to the mortuary, they were booked as two bodies of twins aged two months.
However, on Monday mortuary workers who were preparing to wash the bodies were shocked to learn that the bags contained 10 dead chicken and informed the police.
However, the attendants declined to talk to journalists saying only the hospital superintendent, Dr Leonard Mbuthia, was authorised to talk to the media.
Dr Mbuthia could not be reached on his cell phone.
Laikipia East police commander James Kithuka said he was informed of the incident on Sunday evening.
It was not until Mr Kithuka enquired about the sexes of the “bodies” so that he could confirm the incidents to journalists that one of his junior officers said they had established that what was collected from the garbage site and taken to Nanyuki District Hospital mortuary were dead chicken whose source could not be immediately established.
Daily Nation
