This archive report was first published on 7 July 2020.
On July 7, 2020, a dramatic incident unfolded in Kayole, Nairobi, where a matatu driver, Dickson Maina, fell from the roof of an apartment building while trying to escape an attack by a baboon.
Fortunately, Maina escaped death by a whisker, landing on an iron sheet fence, which broke his left arm and caused deep cuts on both his thumbs and the right side of his cheek.
According to Maina, he was at Arrow Web Hospital in Kayole when residents raised an alarm, prompting him to investigate the commotion. He claimed that he climbed the balcony to check out what was happening and saw the baboon charging at him.
"I heard people shouting then climbed the balcony to check out what the problem was, that's when I saw the baboon charging at me," Maina narrated. "It wanted to bite me so I jumped but missed the balcony and landed in a plot fenced with iron sheets," he added.
Residents who tried to chase the baboon away came to Maina's rescue after he fell, making an opening on the iron sheet fence to access him. They took him for first aid at Arrow Web Hospital before transferring him to Mama Lucy Hospital for further treatment.
Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) has been called upon to compensate Maina for his injuries, with residents suspecting that the baboon came from Nyamavilla. Maina questioned what could have happened if the baboon attacked a child, emphasizing the danger posed by the animal.
"An animal like that is dangerous, the way he charged at me he wanted to bite me. If it can attack me and I'm a grown-up what if it meets a child?" Maina noted.
