Suspected Bomb Grinds Nairobi CBD To A Halt [VIDEO]

A suspected explosive device was discovered in the Nairobi Central Business District (CBD) on Wednesday, July 13, causing an unusual alarm amongst its residents.

The bomb, in a video seen by Viral Tea, was reported to have been discovered abandoned outside Ebony House, Taveta Lane, off Tom Mboya street.

Though the device itself was not clearly visible to the naked eye, cameras stationed outside the area cordoned off by the police zoomed in to get a clear picture of the device hidden within the back alleys of the city.

Watch the video courtesy of Citizen Digital:

Suspected explosive device found outside Ebony House, Taveta Lane, off Tom Mboya street in Nairobi CBD; area cordoned off, bomb squad expected shortly pic.twitter.com/O9TaJKv6CU — Citizen TV Kenya (@citizentvkenya) July 13, 2022

Passers-by had raised an alarm regarding the device, prompting police to move in swiftly and seal off the area to members of the public.

Onlookers were seen taking pictures and videos of the happenings, despite the obvious warning of being close to a device considered dangerous with devastating consequences.

Experts from the bomb squad could then be seen arriving to inspect the device on-site with officers keeping traffic and pedestrians at a distance. 

By the time of publishing, it was not clear on the type of explosive device and where it originated from.

Nairobi becomes the latest area to be hit by bomb scares whereby residents bump into unsuspecting objects, sometimes taking the shape of common objects, only to be frightened on discovering that they are actually explosive devices.

In Kigumo, Murang'a County, an 84 mm mortar bomb was found in a plantation on Sunday, July 8, causing panic amongst its residents, who according to the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI), had mistaken it for your ordinary arrowroot.

Other curious locals believed that it was a missile, which tossed the rather quiet town into a fright of its life.

"So concerned were the villagers that two children were dispatched to the homestead of a retired military officer 3 kilometres away since calls to his phone went unanswered, to come and ascertain whether it was truly a missile as claimed by a majority," the DCI stated at the time.

The area chief was informed of the incident and alerted detectives based at Ngonda police station in Kigumo, who rushed to the scene. 

The detectives called experts from the Forensic Bomb Disposal and Hazardous materials unit, based at the DCI National Forensic Laboratory, who confirmed that the object was an 84mm mortar bomb.

A mortar bomb mistaken for an arrowroot was found in Kigumo, Murang'a County on May 8, 2022. /DCI

The bomb stems from its mortar, the M252 81 mm medium weight mortar, which is a British-designed smooth bore, muzzle-loading, high-angle-of-fire weapon used for long-range indirect fire support to light infantry, air assault, and airborne units across the entire front of a battalion zone of influence.

In the U.S. Army and U.S. Marine Corps, it is normally deployed in the mortar platoon of an infantry battalion.