Armed raiders have killed one tourist and injured two in an unprecedented raid on the fringes of Kenya’s famous Masai Mara national park.

Police spokesman Eric Kiraithe said the group of Kenyans, celebrating the birthday of one of their party, had set up camp on the Western edge of the park, which backs onto Tanzania’s Serengeti national park, when they came under fire on Monday.

“The robbers took some things and there was a shootout,” he said. “Two were injured and unfortunately John (the man celebrating his 60th birthday) was shot and killed.”

Incidences of banditry are common in the north and east of Kenya, but this was the first such raid in the tourist area of the Masai Mara.

Kiraithe said there was a suspicion the raiders may have come across the border from Tanzania, as witnesses said they were not speaking Kiswahili with a Kenyan accent.

Security has now been beefed up to prevent any further incidents.

“The security was already there, but we have become more cautious now,” Kiraithe said. “In the future we won’t allow people to go without security, especially those who are camping in open places.”

Kenya’s tourism industry, a major earner that relies heavily on game parks and beach tourism, is slowly recovering from several bad years brought on by deadly post-election violence in early 2008 and the global recession.

source: DPA