87 Psychiatric Patients Escape While Staff Goes On Strike In Kenya

First Posted: Dec 07, 2016 03:15 AM EST

An estimated 87 patients escaped from the only psychiatric hospital in Kenya after they were left unattended. The doctors and nurses refused to work and went on strike following a nationwide move of medical workers at public hospitals against the government.

Over the recent years, the Kenyan government has been caught up in scandals of mismanagement and corruption. As a result, public hospital workers went on strike on Dec. 5.

When the patients from the Mathare Mental Hospital in Nairobi were left unattended, they scaled up the walls surrounding the wards and just wandered away. By Monday evening, only 17 patients had been brought back to the hospital, CBS News reports.

However, more than 50 patients are still missing. The illnesses of the patients were not disclosed and many residents are worried that the patients could pose a threat.

"They are more of a danger to themselves. For example, if one of them strays into a private compound, he or she could be mistaken for a burglar," Julius Ogato, the medical superintendent of the hospital, said.

In a video uploaded online, the patients were seen escaping from the hospital. Motorists and road users were forced to wait in traffic after the patients escaped the facility. A major manhunt has been launched in search of all the mental patients.

An estimated 5,000 doctors and health workers from public hospitals across the country did not report to work. The workers are demanding better pay and working conditions. On average, Kenyan doctors make as little as $400 per month while nurses earn just $150 per month. Most of them are working in squalid conditions, the Denver Post reports.

Seth Panyako, secretary-general of the nurses' union, said his organization wants the government to sign a collective bargaining agreement that would bring equitable salaries for medical workers. He aired his frustration over the government losing billions of money to corruption, and medical workers still remain underpaid and overworked.