NAIROBI
The death toll from Friday's twin bombings that rocked Gikomba, the largest open-air market in Kenyan capital Nairobi, has risen to ten, an official has said.
"Ten people are reported dead while 70 others have been injured," Peter Onyango of the Kenya National Disaster Operation Center told Anadolu Agency on Friday.
Of those injured, 31 have been treated and discharged from hospital, while 21 remain in critical condition, he said.
"Most of the injured were taken to Kenyatta National Hospital," he added.
Earlier in the day, Onyango had said that an explosion had gone off near a bus station in Gikomba only moments before a second blast inside the market.
Meanwhile, Nairobi Police Chief Benson Kibue told reporters that police had detained two suspects in connection with the bombings.
"We arrested one of the suspects, possibly identified. He is currently with us [and] we will question him," Kibue said. "We have another one that police caught, but we won't say where we are holding that person."
"We have two male suspects; that is good news to us," he added. "We are going to come up with exhaustive information regarding these [suspected] terrorists."
One of East Africa's largest open-air markets, Gikomba market is always teeming with people shopping for second-hand clothes and other goods on offer.
Kenya has been hit by a spate of terrorist attacks since its decision to send troops to Somalia in 2011.
Nairobi deployed troops to its troubled neighbor following a series of kidnappings of foreign tourists – many of whom were later executed by Al-Shabaab militants – from the Kenyan coast.
Al-Shabaab also claimed responsibility for Nairobi's 2013 Westgate Mall attack in which 67 people were killed.
By Magdalene Mukami
englishnews@aa.com.tr
