Body of a Muslim teacher who shielded non-Muslims in a terror attack on a bus was flown to Kenya’s north eastern town of Mandera.
Salah Farah who was on a bus travelling through Mandera in Kenya when it was attacked by al-Shabab in December, died in surgery to treat his bullet wound.
He was flown to Nairobi on December 22 after the attack had happened.
During the incident, two people were killed by the Al-Shabaab attackers.
The victim died at the Kenyatta National Hospital while undergoing treatment on Monday morning.
The attackers told the Muslims and Christians to split up but he was among Muslim passengers who refused.
A bullet hit Mr Farah and almost a month on; he died in hospital in the capital, Nairobi.
Kenya’s Inspector General of Police Joseph Boinnet said Farah was a true hero and deserved the best treatment in terms of burial.
“We provided a plane to fly the body home to Mandera for burial. This is because the deceased died while trying to shield innocent Kenyans. He is a true hero,” said Boinnet.
Boinnet said the plane also carried the family of the deceased man.
The brother of the deceased Rasheed said they were provided with a plane by police to fly the body to Mandera for burial.
“We are at Wilson Airport with the body headed for Mandera for burial. I will inform you once we are on the ground,” said Rasheed.
Farah was the deputy head teacher of Mandera Township Primary School.
During the attack, Al-Shabaab militants tried to separate Muslims from Christians but Farah and other passengers resisted.
In previous attacks in the area, al-Shabab has killed Christians and spared Muslims.
Mr Farah had told the BBC that attackers had offered him an escape.
“They told us if you are a Muslim, we are safe. There were some people who were not Muslim. They hid their heads,” he said.
They wanted to separate the Christians from Muslims before they could start to slaughter or shoot them.
“We asked them to kill all of us or leave us alone.”
Explaining his actions, he told Voice of America earlier this month that “people should live peacefully together”.
“We are brothers.
“It’s only the religion that is the difference, so I ask my brother Muslims to take care of the Christians so that the Christians also take care of us… and let us help one another and let us live together peacefully”.
Mr Farah’s brother Rashid told Kenya’s The Star newspaper he hoped his brother’s death would bring religious harmony and encourage Kenyans to live as one community.
