Three killed in foiled attack on Mombasa police station

Security officials patrol Mombasa streets after the attack. The County police commander Patterson Maelo said the three women were being questioned by police regarding a case of stolen mobile phones. 

By MOHAMED AHMED

In Summary

• My Maelo said that one of them threw a knife at one of the officers while the other threw a petrol bomb at the report officer.

Three people dressed in bui-buis (head to toe robes) were today morning killed after attempting to burn the Central Police Station in Mombasa.

The County police commander Patterson Maelo said the three women had ostensibly come to report the loss of their stolen mobile phones.

Mr Maelo added that one of them later threw a knife at one of the officers while the other hurled a petrol bomb at the report officer.

As a result the station caught fire leaving two officers injured. One suffered injury on the hip and the other on the arm.

"While the officers were questioning them about the particulars of the place the phones purportedly stolen, one immediately threw a knife and the other one threw a petrol bomb to the report office personnel," he said.

"The office caught fire and police reaction led to the three being shot dead. Two officers were injured and they are in hospital."

The fire was extinguished and the facility secured. Investigations are going on. The male and female officers were rushed to hospital.