3 passengers killed in Al Shabaab attack in Mandera

At least three people were on Wednesday killed and six others injured during an Al Shabaab attack on a passenger bus in Mandera.

The owner of the bus told Capital News that they are still looking for the driver who sustained injuries on the hand, as he sped off.

“This incident occurred at about 11am, three passengers are dead and six others are injured,” the driver who only gave his name as Abbas said on telephone.

The bus owner said the crew was not given security when they left Mandera.

“We don’t understand why they were not given security when they left,” he said.

According to Abbas, quoting passengers, the ten gunmen started spraying the bus with bullets but the driver sped off, until they deflated the tyres.

“They also shot him on the hand and that is when he could not move it any further and stopped,” he said, “passengers then alighted and sped off to the bushes and into the Manyattas where they were helped by locals.”

He said the driver had not been traced.

“Passengers who ran with him said they left him in the bush but we have not found him, we are still looking for him because they don’t seem to know the exact spot where they left him,” he said.

A senior police officer in Mandera has confirmed the incident, saying, “we had an incident of a bus attack and there are three fatalities.”

The bus was carrying more than 60 passengers to Nairobi.