NAIROBI, Jan 2: Lucas Sang, a member of the Kenyan 4x400 metres relay quartet at the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul, became a victim of the countrywide riots when he was hacked to death at his hometown of Eldoret on Tuesday, his colleague said.

Sang, who retired to farming after quitting the track, was killed as he walked home in this western Kenyan town of Eldoret where over 35 people were burned alive inside a church on the same day.

“He was walking home on foot to his house at Kimumu when he was attacked,” former world 10,000 metres champion Moses Tanui told AFP on Wednesday.

Having started as a 400 metres runner, Sang later switched to the 800 metres where he was more at home but due to the fierce competition, he opted to become a pacemaker for fellow Kenyan and foreign athletes before retiring to successful farming in Eldoret.

Sang was among 316 people known on Wednesday to have been killed in escalating violence since the election, which has led to international diplomatic efforts to mediate and end the crisis.—AFP