Rebecca Cheptegei, a Ugandan marathon runner who was burned by her partner, has died from her burns, the president of the Ugandan Olympic Committee announced on Thursday. Four days earlier, a man identified as her partner doused her with petrol and set her on fire outside her home in the presence of the athlete’s two daughters in western Kenya.
Ugandan marathon runner Rebecca Cheptegei has died from burns, the president of the Ugandan Olympic Committee announced on Thursday, September 5, four days after a man presented as her companion set her on fire in western Kenya.
“We have learned of the sad passing of our Olympic athlete Rebecca Cheptegei following a violent attack by her boyfriend. May her soul rest in peace and we strongly condemn violence against women,” Donald Rukare said in a message on X.
“This was a cowardly and senseless act that led to the loss of a great athlete. Her legacy will live on,” he added.
“All his organs stopped (functioning) last night,” a doctor at Moi Teaching and Referral Hospital (MTRH) in the town of Eldoret, where the 33-year-old athlete, who took part in the marathon at the Paris Olympics in August (44th), was being treated, confirmed to AFP on condition of anonymity.
She was in “critical condition”, with burns of “more than 80%”, the doctors said.
With AFP
- FRANCE 24
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