An Austrian national who died after collapsing at a club in Mtwapa town had injected himself with a drug, police investigations have revealed.
Armin Roger Roeseler, 47, fainted at Casuarina Club in Mtwapa, Kilifi County where he was partying with his friend Dietmar Markus.
He was pronounced dead at Jocham Hospital in Mombasa.
The incident happened on Wednesday last week at around 3am.
A senior police officer privy to the investigations revealed that the foreigner injected himself with cocaine.
NERVOUS SYSTEM
According to the post-mortem exam, which police say was done at the Jocham Hospital, the drug affected the man’s nervous system.
He injected himself on the hand, police said.
Statements recorded from witnesses show that some minutes after getting to the club, Roeseler asked two women, Everylne Chengetich and Lydia Nyaboke, who were arrested over his alleged murder, where he could get cocaine.
An eyewitness, who did not want to be identified, told the Nation that the man, together with his foreign colleague, entered the club with the two women at around 1am on Tuesday.
TAXI DRIVER
“The women could not help him, but he was [linked] with a taxi driver who got him the drug after giving him Sh10,000,” police reports indicate.
After injecting himself, the man went into a drinking spree, which a doctor’s report indicates disrupted his nervous system.
“He was reported to have visited the lavatory frequently while at the club, which analysis shows was as a reaction of the drug he had injected himself with,” said Kilifi South Sub-County Police Commander Esau Ochokorodi.
Some minutes later, Mr Roeseler fell down and lost consciousness after which the bouncers at the club rushed him to Jambo Jipya Medical Clinic which is within Mtwapa town before he was referred to Jocham Hospital.
COLLAPSED
“The foreigner collapsed and white foam came out of his mouth. That’s when he was rushed to the hospital,” said the witness who was at the club.
The witness said the foreigners had visited another club in Bamburi before proceeding to Mtwapa town.
“They were visiting the club for the first time. We have never seen them around,” said the witness.
Police said Mr Roeseler had been in Kenya for three weeks after being invited by his friend, Mr Markus, who has previously been into the country.
The two were staying at Indiana Beach Hotel which is approximately four kilometres from Mtwapa town.
IN COURT
Earlier, police had taken Ms Chengetich and Ms Nyaboke to Shanzu Law Courts where they were allowed to detain them for 10 days for investigations to be completed.
Police had suspected that the Austrian had been drugged and the women were the first suspects as they were the last people seen with him.
CREMATED
The body has since been cremated after his family back in Austria gave the nod for the same to its consulate in Kenya.
Cases of revellers being drugged have in the recent past been rampant in Mtwapa clubs.
The small town in Kilifi County has for years been known for its vibrant weeklong nightlife.
Hundreds of clubs are located in the township and are known to attract foreigners including Germans, Italians, Austrians and Swiss nationals.
Cases of the foreign nationals dying in unclear circumstances have also been reported in Kilifi where some have invested in businesses.