Was there a massacre after Kenya's anti-tax protests?

In the chaotic context of this week’s violence on the streets of the Kenyan capital and a government accused of responding brutally to protests, rumours began to take on a life of their own – feeding into public anger and further stoking a situation that was already tense.

On Tuesday citizens watched in horror as a bloody day unfolded in Nairobi.

The country’s police watchdog is now investigating allegations that officers shot dead protesters outside the national parliament during a day of demonstrations in which at least 23 people are reported to have died.

Within hours many Kenyans began to hear reports of another, even more brutal incident – an alleged massacre of civilians in Githurai, a residential suburb 14km (nine miles) north-east of central Nairobi.

The story quickly took hold on social media, where some people claimed more than 200 had been killed.

Reports referencing the rumours emerged in the media, followed on Wednesday by statements by reputable organisations calling for an independent inquiry. When protesters returned to the heart of Nairobi on Thursday, many spoke of the alleged massacre in Githurai as a reason.

But a BBC investigation has found no evidence of mass killings in Githurai – raising questions about how readily misinformation can spread amid a crisis.

Here we unpick how the story unfolded.

The first sense of anything significant taking place in the suburb emerged on Tuesday evening.

It had been a chaotic day across Kenya, with tens of thousands attending protests in central Nairobi which quickly escalated, leading to the storming of parliament, the shooting dead of protesters, looting and attacks on police.

After the shocking violence outside and inside parliament the demonstrators began to disperse, many headed towards their homes on the city’s outskirts.

Githurai is a densely populated residential area on the Thika Highway, the main road north from the city centre.

It has rows of formal housing as well as areas of informal settlements, home to tens of thousands of commuters who make the daily trip into central Nairobi.

As dusk fell many Githurai residents suddenly became aware of a significant presence of police and what many believed were the military.

Communications were patchy on Tuesday evening, with internet outages across Kenya and mobile phone signals periodically going down.

But as news of events in Githurai emerged, some videos did make their way to social media.

BBC Verify has managed to authenticate several videos posted by six different online users and from different locations around the area.

They show evidence of heavy and continuous gunfire in Githurai, around the main roundabout on the Thika Highway.