Kenyan villagers on Friday lynched a serial killer of children, described as a "bloodthirsty vampire", a few days after his escape while in custody, according to the Kenyan authorities.

Masten Milimo Wanjala, only 20 years old, was arrested on July 14 for the disappearance of two children, but in a chilling confession, he admitted to having killed at least ten other people over a period of five years, "sometimes by sucking blood from their veins before executing them, ”the Kenyan Criminal Investigations Directorate (DCI) said at the time.

The young man was due to appear in a Nairobi court on Wednesday for the murders of two children aged 12 and 13, but had disappeared from the police station on the morning roll call.

Three police officers were arrested and presented to a judge on Thursday to answer for the accused's flight.

But a crowd caught up with him on Friday near his home, where he was identified by schoolchildren in Bungoma, more than 400 km from the police station from which he escaped.

A forensic investigation carried out

“He is from this region and the children saw and recognized him. The noise spread and the inhabitants started to pursue it ”, declared Bonface Ndiema, administrator of the region. "He ended up taking refuge in a neighbor's house but he was flushed out and lynched" by the mob. Police spokesman Bruno Shiosho said they had launched a forensic investigation into the identity of the lynched man. “The locals said it was him. For now, we can confirm that a man the locals say is Masten Wanjala, who was on the run, was lynched in Bungoma, ”he said.

In July, police described Wanjala's arrest as a major step forward in an investigation into a series of worrying child disappearances in the East African country.

The victims were drugged and bloodless.

Some of them were strangled, police said.

Wanjala's first victim was a 12-year-old girl kidnapped five years ago in Machakos County, east of Nairobi.

The bodies of several children believed to have died at Wanjala's hands have yet to be found, police say.

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