"How many pple 2 die?" ask Kenyan mobile texters

By Andrew Cawthorne

NAIROBI (Reuters) - Amid all the post-election pandemonium in Kenya, one of the rumours spreading most panic was that mobile phone text messages were about to be blocked.

"Txt me now cos U may b off soon!" was the kind of message friends used to alert each other as Kenya descended into days of chaos and bloodshed after President Mwai Kibaki's disputed re-election.

But the texts were not cut.

Phone messages have become the preferred mode of communication for news-hungry Kenyans -- rich and poor -- throughout one of the worst bouts of turmoil in their nation since independence from Britain in 1963.

News of terrible killings in shanty-towns and rural areas has sometimes spread first via texts.

"N-bour b headed. Under attack. Running with kids. U hav space plz?" read one from a slum resident after attackers killed the person living next door.

From inside their guarded homes, wealthy Kenyans have comforted each other, shared information on which shops remain open for essentials, and lamented together -- all via text.

"When Nakumatt closes, it's time to get to Jomo Kenyatta and get hell out," read one from a middle-class Kenyan, referring to the main supermarket chain and Nairobi's international airport.