NAIROBI, Kenya (Rueters) -- Schoolchildren as young as five went on a "drunken" rampage, looting shops, burning a vehicle, and consuming the contents of a beer wagon after one of their friends was killed in a traffic accident. Hundreds of students barricaded roads and pelted traders and vehicles with rocks on Monday after a nine-year-old pupil at James Gichuru School in Nairobi was killed by a speeding public minibus -- or "matatu" -- when he bent over to pick up a pencil. "One of our children was hit by a speeding matatu," the school's headmaster told Reuters. "After this, there was rioting involving children from all the schools around." A teacher at another primary school in the area said James Gichuru pupils had come around to all the schools to gather support. "They just ran out of the classroom like crazy demons," she said. "We managed to hold back some of the little ones but the others, they went hitting people, pah! Hitting cars, pah!" The children set fire to the matatu and then embarked on a spree of violence that lasted for eight hours, effectively taking over the suburb of Dandora. "They really, really want speed bumps," the teacher said. "That is why they got drunk and smashed things, to make a point. But nonetheless, they are serious hooligans. They are like English football fans." The driver and conductor of the matatu escaped. Thieves later stole the engine of the burned-out minibus. No details on injuries were available. |