American-based online platform Airbnb has denied links to the tragic murders involving two women in two different apartments in Nairobi.
In a statement, the company expressed shock over the gruesome murders but said that two apartments where the two women were murdered were not booked with them.
“We are saddened and shocked to learn of these events. We can confirm that neither of these events were connected to stays on Airbnb,” read part of the statement.
The mysterious murders were reported to have occurred in Nairobi’s South B and Roysambu estates on January 6 and 14 respectively.
In the first incident, a socialite, Starlet Wahu, was found dead in an apartment located in the South B area.
Barely a week later, another middled-aged woman was found dead in the Kasarani area, with some body parts chopped off and stuffed in a polyethene bag.
Following public outcry over regulations of Airbnb facilities, the company was ctaegorical that the tragic incidents are unrelated to accommodations booked through their platform.
Airbnb on registration
According to the statement, the locations of the murders had no bookings registered on the platform for the reported dates.
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Furthermore, the company noted that the persons of interests in both apartments did not have registered Airbnb accounts.
“The properties in which these crimes took place did not have reservations booked on Airbnb for the dates reported and we do not have accounts registered to the names of the accused,” the statement added.
Additionally, the short-term housing platform noted that it has since shared the same to the authorities, maintaining it was ready to support local law enforcement with any ongoing investigations.
According to the statement, the company implements various measures to maintain safety on the platform in Kenya.
This included requiring everyone using Airbnb to represent themselves authentically.
Safety Measures
“We enforce strict policies governing who can have an account and where concerns come to our attention, we investigate and may remove the user from the platform,” said Airbnb.
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Also, the company added that it embraced identity verification, an important part of building that trust within.
It noted that all booking guests and primary hosts getting booked on need to complete the identity verification process.
The American company was born in 2007 when two the founders welcomed three guests to their San Francisco home.
It was later founded in 2008 by Joe Gebbia, Brian Chesky, and Nathan Blecharczyk, the company’s name being a shortened version of its original name, AirBedandBreakfast.com.
According to the platform, it has since grown to over 4 million hosts who have welcomed over 1.5 billion guest arrivals in almost every country across the globe.
The American company operates an online marketplace for short- and long-term homestays and experiences, acting as a broker and charges a commission from each booking.