This archive report was first published on 6 December 2019.
On December 6, 2019, Elizabeth Muthoni Gacheru, a primary school teacher from Kibingoti village in Ndia Constituency, Kirinyaga county, made a desperate attempt to rid her home of a snake that had slithered in while she was washing clothes.
As she hid in her bedroom, Muthoni lit a piece of cloth and threw it into the room, hoping to flush out the unwanted guest. However, her plan backfired, and smoke billowed from the house instead of the snake.
County government firefighters were called in to put out the inferno, but not before parts of the house, roof, clothes, and electronics were destroyed, leaving Muthoni with estimated losses of Sh1 million.
The fate of the snake remains unclear.
