Ex- NTV journalist Silas Apollo bled to death after accident, autopsy shows

Ex-NTV broadcast journalist Silas Apollo died from excessive bleeding after he was involved in a road accident, according to an autopsy.

A family member who shared the details with The Standard said he had travelled to the city to identify the body and witness the autopsy process after the mysterious happening. 

He told The Standard that the family learned of his death on Saturday when a relative called his phone to check on him.

“We couldn’t reach him after several calls, and that’s when we suspected something was wrong, we are not sure but we are told he could have died on Thursday,” said the family source, who requested anonymity.

The autopsy, conducted at the City Mortuary, also showed that he suffered severe bruises on his chest and hands.

An eyewitness told The Standard that Apollo was hit by a speeding motorist and was immediately rushed to St. Teresa’s Hospital, but was later moved to Kiambu Level 6 Hospital for specialised care, where he died.

Police sources revealed that he was not immediately identified and was moved to the City Mortuary.

“He suffered severe head injuries. There were also injuries to his chest and ribcage. The doctors have told us that this could have caused serious bleeding, leading to his death.”

Until his death, Apollo worked with The Nairobi Law Monthly, a publication that analyses Kenya’s legal landscape.

The family is, however, still in the dark about the exact circumstances that preceded his death.

“We are only being told that he was knocked down by a motorist around Thindigua area in Kiambu. We are not sure whether he was on foot or on motorcycle. We just appeal for a thorough investigation to be conducted so we can process all this,” said a relative.

Apollo, a graduate of Masinde Muliro University’s Journalism and Mass Communication program, has been remembered by friends and colleagues as an astute and dedicated journalist who loved humanity.

The Kenya Editors’ Guild (KEG) mourned Apollo, saying, “His passion for storytelling and his calm, thoughtful presence in the newsroom will be remembered by all those who worked with him.”

Apollo, who served in both the print and broadcast divisions of Nation Media Group, specialised in politics, current affairs, and business reporting, with a decade of experience.

His death comes days after another TV journalist, former KTN Sports anchor Nick Mudimba, collapsed and died at his Syokimau home on March 23.

Two days earlier, on March 21, an up-and-coming journalist at the national broadcaster KBC, Fredrick Parsayo, was found dead at his house in Kinoo.

In February 2019, when the Dusit attack happened, Apollo was among the scores who were rescued after 12 hours of hiding in a toilet as gunmen unleashed terror.

He later narrated his chilling experience, saying that he and his cameraman, Dickson Onyango, were crammed in a toilet on the second floor of the building, clutching onto hope. They had gone to interview a member of the Commission for Revenue Allocation (CRA) at Riverside when the attack occurred.

Investigations have been launched into the mysterious death of Apollo.