Nairobi — A Catholic priest from Ruai Parish has died in Murang'a after a night out with his girlfriend, police have confirmed.

The priest identified as Joseph Kariuki, 43, from St Peter's Catholic church inn Ruai Parish collapsed and died on Saturday morning while with his girlfriend who is also a church staff.

The two lovebirds had booed themselves into Monalisa Hotel in Gatanga where they spent Friday night.

But the unexpected happened on Saturday morning when the lady rushed to the hotel reception on an emergency, saying her man was not well.

Police say when the hotel staff responded to the emergency, they found the man unconscious and had to rush him to the nearest hospital.

They also informed local police who accompanied them to the hospital where the priest was pronounced dead on arrival. The cause of death has not been established.

"Investigations into this death have been launched and a postmortem will also be done. Our officers have taken statements from the woman who was last with him and the hotel staff," he said.

Detectives also collected samples of food he ate last as part of the investigations.