Kenya teargases children aged three to 14 over playground protest

Kenyan police on Monday fired tear gas at schoolchildren protesting the sale of their playground to a property developer, injuring three pupils, local television channels reported.

Pupils returning to government-owned Langata Primary School in Nairobi after a two-week strike by teachers found the playground fenced off.

They tore down the fence, which had been built by the owners of a local hotel seeking to turn the playground into a car park, Kenya Television Network reported.

Some of the pupils carried placards reading: "Land grabbing is terror against children."

Television footage showed pupils screaming after inhaling gas and hundreds of them fleeing to a nearby highway, where drivers gave them water.

A police officer sustained an injury in the face during the commotion, local police representatives said. They denied that police had used tear gas on the children.

The pupils were between 3 and 14 years old.

It was not clear how the hotel owners obtained rights to the land.

Opposition leader Raila Odinga said in a statement that the incident demonstrated "brutality beyond words and greed beyond description."