A Kenyan physician told the BBC that 53 children were treated at his hospital without charge after police on Wednesday used tear gas in their school.

"As a parent, you positively and fearfully react, which compelled me to act without asking for money," Dr Aron Shikuku, from the private Eagle Nursing Home hospital in the capital, Nairobi, told the BBC’s Newsday programme.

According to the most recent data from 2018, only 19% of the population in Kenya has access to any type of medical insurance, making healthcare highly expensive.

While receiving care at a private hospital is sometimes more expensive and can result in crippling medical debt, the nation's public hospitals are typically grossly understaffed and underequipped.

The children were treated for shock and respiratory issues brought on by the tear gas, according to Dr. Shikuku, and then released.

He said they were being monitored as they settle back into their school, which is in Kangemi, a slum area in the north-west of the city.

There were demonstrations around the country called by the opposition over the rising cost of living, but they turned deadly.

Six people were killed, the authorities said.