Was there a massacre after Kenya's anti-tax protests?

In the chaotic context of this week's violence on the streets of the Kenyan capital and a government accused of responding brutally to protests, rumours began to take on a life of their own - feeding into public anger and further stoking a situation that was already tense.

On Tuesday citizens watched in horror as a bloody day unfolded in Nairobi.

The country’s police watchdog is now investigating allegations that officers shot dead protesters outside the national parliament during a day of demonstrations in which at least 23 people are reported to have died.

Within hours many Kenyans began to hear reports of another, even more brutal incident - an alleged massacre of civilians in Githurai, a residential suburb 14km (nine miles) north-east of central Nairobi.

The story quickly took hold on social media, where some people claimed more than 200 had been killed.

Reports referencing the rumours emerged in the media, followed on Wednesday by statements by reputable organisations calling for an independent inquiry. When protesters returned to the heart of Nairobi on Thursday, many spoke of the alleged massacre in Githurai as a reason.

But a BBC investigation has found no evidence of mass killings in Githurai - raising questions about how readily misinformation can spread amid a crisis.

Here we unpick how the story unfolded.

The first sense of anything significant taking place in the suburb emerged on Tuesday evening.

It had been a chaotic day across Kenya, with tens of thousands attending protests in central Nairobi which quickly escalated, leading to the storming of parliament, the shooting dead of protesters, looting and attacks on police.

After the shocking violence outside and inside parliament the demonstrators began to disperse, many headed towards their homes on the city’s outskirts.

Githurai is a densely populated residential area on the Thika Highway, the main road north from the city centre.

It has rows of formal housing as well as areas of informal settlements, home to tens of thousands of commuters who make the daily trip into central Nairobi.

As dusk fell many Githurai residents suddenly became aware of a significant presence of police and what many believed were the military.

Communications were patchy on Tuesday evening, with internet outages across Kenya and mobile phone signals periodically going down.

But as news of events in Githurai emerged, some videos did make their way to social media.

BBC Verify has managed to authenticate several videos posted by six different online users and from different locations around the area.

They show evidence of heavy and continuous gunfire in Githurai, around the main roundabout on the Thika Highway.

In one video, we see security forces advancing towards the protesters and some can be seen shooting - it is unclear from the video whether at the protesters or in the air, and it is impossible to know whether the guns were firing live rounds, rubber bullets or blanks.

We are yet to come across any verifiable video or image of people killed around that time.

A graphic image circulating online shows a body with at least eight bullet holes, but the nature of how it was taken makes it challenging to verify because it is taken at very close range and there are no clearly identifiable location points.

In one video clip, which we were able to authenticate by verifying identifiable locations, people can be seen walking towards Githurai.

Smoke can be seen rising from the area from a distance as the person filming walks towards the suburb. Those walking alongside the person filming are raising their hands up to show they do not pose any danger.

Another video filmed nearby the roundabout shows dozens of people gathered around the area and running away from the scene as gunfire can be heard.

In some of the videos, you can see what looks like vehicles belonging to the military or police on the road, and in two of the clips those filming talk about the road having been blocked by protesters.

Although the details are hard to verify, it is clear that a major security operation took place in the suburb.

But an analysis of social media shows misinformation about what had happened was already starting to take hold.

BBC Verify found that old videos filmed in 2022 were being reshared on social media, purporting to show protesters walking along a street carrying flaming torches at this week's protests.

The BBC Global Disinformation Unit had previously investigated the clip and discovered that it was recorded in Ghana two years ago. This is not the first time it has been misrepresented.

Despite the incomplete understanding of what happened in Githurai, as Kenyans woke up on Wednesday morning reports began to spread of an alleged massacre.

It was discussed by radio DJs, reported as rumour by some Kenyan newspapers and widely discussed online. The word "Githurai" was trending on social media sites, including X.

The state-funded Kenya National Commission on Human Rights said it had "received unverified reports of scores of residents who were killed by the stray bullets", which it said it would investigate.

And later that day the allegations were given new credibility when they were referred to directly by a leading legal organisation, the Law Society of Kenya (LSK) - a body that represents the country’s lawyers and works to promote the rule of law.

Responding to widespread public anger at alleged police brutality outside parliament, LSK president Faith Odhiambo also called for an international investigation into what she called the “massacre” in Githurai.

In a press conference, carried by some Kenyan broadcasters, she said: “We call upon the international community to conduct independent investigations on the massacre meted on the residents of Githurai, Nairobi, on the night of 25 June 2024.

“I dare ask, is Githurai a protected area? Is Githurai an area that members of the public should not stay, should not live? Why was there a massacre where people are living peacefully? We demand answers to those questions.”

She added: “From social media, people have been saying that over 100 people were killed yesterday. So we cannot allow those lives to go uncounted, that the people who caused those deaths to be held accountable.”

Ms Odhiambo has subsequently told the BBC that she now accepts she did not have evidence of a mass killing at the time that she gave her press conference and said she was willing to withdraw the allegation a massacre had occurred.

In an interview on Thursday, she said the LSK intended to establish a help desk in Githurai to “slowly collect” evidence of what had happened - and said in previous incidents of mass shootings in Kenya, bodies had been buried and only found later.

She said: “We need to ascertain the number. We want to set up a team to investigate the concerns that were made, the rumours that bodies were collected.”

Asked specifically whether she stood by her decision to make the allegation of a massacre, she said: “Maybe in hindsight I accept that I shouldn’t have called it a massacre.”

Other public bodies also spoke publicly about a “massacre” at Githurai.

The word was used on Wednesday afternoon in a statement issued by the Police Reform Working Group, an alliance of organisations that campaign for better policing.

The statement said: “Reports show that police shot several people in Githurai in Nairobi - one over 40 times - between 10pm and 1am, way after the protest ended.

“We believe that the massacre that happened in Githurai was fueled by an inciteful, and insensitive address President William Ruto gave yesterday at State House. Ruto spoke at 9 pm and threatened Kenyans, and the massacre started at 10pm.”

A spokesperson for the Police Reform Working Group on Friday told the BBC the organisation’s position was now that the alleged massacre at Githurai was “unverified”, but declined to comment any further on its statement from Wednesday.

By Wednesday afternoon the sense of public anger about the incident in Githurai was so significant that the BBC sent a reporting team to investigate on the ground.

But by the time the crew arrived, the bustling suburb was largely calm as traders carried on with their businesses.

Many of those we spoke to confirmed Tuesday’s violent confrontations between civilians and security forces.

A police vehicle was burned. “We dismantled the shell and sold what remained of it as scrap metal,” one resident told us.

But no-one we spoke to reported seeing any dead bodies, nor could they identify anyone who had been killed.