Macharia, a Kenyan soundman working for Reuters; Hansi Krauss, a German photographer with the Associated Press; Hosea Maina, a
Kenyan photographer working for Reuters; and Dan Eldon, photographer holding
British and American passports and working for Reuters, were killed when a crowd, angered
by a the death of more than 70 Somalis in an aerial attack on General
Mohamed Farah Aidid’s command post, set upon them wielding rocks,
clubs, and guns. The four journalists, as well as Mohamed Shaffi,
another Kenyan soundman for Reuters Television, were invited to view
the damage after the attack and were escorted to the scene when the
crowd turned on them.
Shaffi, who had begun
filming the carnage while Somalis were searching for dead and wounded
bodies in the wreckage, was roughed up and shot by gunmen as he fled.
Shaffi managed to escape when an unknown Somali told him to get in his
truck and drove him to El-Sahafi Hotel, where reporters in Mogadishu
were staying. Shaffi was treated for two bullet wounds.