Wycliffe Nyamasege
Police have launched a probe into the death of a British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) journalist at a Nairobi hotel.
Kate Mitchelle, who was in charge of BBC Media Action’s Senior Projects in Ethiopia, was found dead in her hotel room on Friday, November 19.
Nairobi Police boss Augustine Thumbi said on Sunday that investigations are ongoing to determine Mitchelle’s cause of death.
Preliminary investigations, however, indicate the journalist may have been strangled to death by a man she had been with earlier at the hotel.
Apparently, Mitchelle had an argument with the man that later escalated into an altercation.
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She pressed the alarm bell when the altercation worsened. She was reportedly strangled before she could receive any help.
Thumbi said Mitchelle’s hotel room door was locked from inside when police arrived. Her body was lying in her room.
Upon searching the room, the detectives noticed some broken window chippings on the floor.
“Upon checking through the window, the detectives saw a man’s body lying on the ground. He was later identified as the man Mitchelle had been seen with earlier,” said Nthumbi.
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“The man had jumped off the eighth floor of the hotel through the room’s window.”
BBC broke the news of Mitchelle’s death to her colleagues on Saturday.
“I am so sorry to inform you of the death of our colleague from BBC Media Action Kate Mitchell. She was in Nairobi and died in her hotel yesterday,” BBC said in an internal memo.
The international broadcaster noted that circumstances of Mitchelle’s death were not very clear.
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It indicated that it’s working with the UK high commission and the police in Nairobi over the matter.
“Kate worked with so many people over the past 14 years, particularly in Zambia, South Sudan and most recently in Ethiopia. This news will be incredibly difficult for all of us, and especially for those teams who worked closely with Kate,” BBC added.
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