Fan commits suicide in Kenya after Man Utd lose to Newcastle

Kenya's fatal attraction with the English Premier League football saw a young Manchester United fan jump to his death following the team's defeat to Newcastle.

According to Nairobi County Police commander, Benson Kibui, John Macharia, 28, plunged to his death from the seventh floor of an apartment block in Pipeline Estate in Nairobi minutes after his favourite team lost 0-1 to the Magpies at Old Trafford Saturday night.

Eyewitnesses said the United supporter could not take a second successive home defeat as David Moyes' side plunged 13 points behind leaders Arsenal.

The Gunners misfortunes also led another ardent Kenyan fan, Suleiman Alphonso Omondi, 29, to commit suicide in 2009 when his favourite ironically crashed to the English league titleholders in the UEFA Champions League semi-final.

Police who have launched an investigation into the latest incident connected to the two most widely supported foreign clubs in the country said that Macharia died instantly after hitting the ground with his head.

"I confirm that we received the news of a young man who could not stand to see his Manchester United team lose, and instead decided he can die for the sake of a team that is miles far away in Europe.

"We are treating this matter as a case and since this is not the first time we have received such cases, I wish to advise football fans in our country to rather support Harambee Stars than those teams in England who does not recognize them," Kibui said when confirming the Saturday incident a day later.

In 2009, Omondi hung himself with an Arsenal jersey in his house after watching United complete a 4-1 aggregate rout over the Gunners in their Champions League semi in May that year.

He was living in Nairobi's Embakasi neighborhood that is next to Pipeline Estate where the latest EPL connected suicide occurred.

"We were watching the match together, and when Arsenal was defeated, he protested and walked out crying as Man-U fans castigated the losers," Omondi Oloo, one of his friends said at the time.

In Kenya, the popularity of the EPL is at an all time high following years of decline of the domestic league as well as the national team.