The Chinese Embassy in Nairobi confirmed Tuesday that one Chinese engineer was killed in an armed robbery in central Kenya Monday evening.

The victim, whose name was not disclosed, and his two Chinese colleagues were ambushed Monday evening when they were on the way back to their camp in Isiolo district, about 300 km northwest of Nairobi, the Chinese Embassy said in a statement.

Their car was surrounded by eight armed bandits and one of the three Chinese engineers with a construction company was shot dead. The other two were released later unharmed after all their belongings were robbed, the statement said.

Last January, a working site of another Chinese construction company in eastern Kenya was attacked, in which one Chinese worker was killed and another wounded.

(Xinhua News Agency April 23, 2008)