Grade 9 pupil drowns while swimming in Bungoma river

FILE IMAGE OF A POLICE LINE

A 15-year-old girl drowned in River Manyanja in Bungoma County after she and her friends reportedly decided to swim while on their way home from school.

The incident happened on Wednesday afternoon, police said.

According to police, the victim, a Grade 9 pupil at Bukirimo Primary School, had been sent home from school to collect money for birth certificate processing. She was accompanied by four other girls.

Preliminary investigations indicate that the group later went to River Manyanja, where they decided to swim. During the activity, Belinda reportedly got into difficulty and drowned.

Police officers rushed to the scene and found the girl’s body floating in the river. With the assistance of members of the public, the body was retrieved from the water. Authorities said no visible injuries were observed on the body.

The body was moved to Bungoma County Referral Hospital Mortuary, where it is being preserved pending a post-mortem examination and further investigations.

The incident has left the local community in shock and renewed concerns over the safety of children around rivers and other water bodies, especially during the school term.

And a 24-year-old farm worker drowned in an irrigation canal in Tana River County while swimming near a farm where he worked.

Police officers rushed to the scene and found the body of Hentrick Masika Wafula lying unresponsive along the banks of the Nanighi N.I.A. Canal.

According to police, the deceased was a resident of Kaa Chonjo Village in Nanighi Location, where he worked as a farm hand.

His colleague told investigators that he had been opening irrigation pipes to allow water to flow into their employer’s farm while the deceased was swimming nearby. After completing his task, he noticed that Wafula had moved into a deeper section of the canal.

He said he attempted to get closer to assist him but the victim had already submerged beneath the water. He then raised the alarm and sought help from nearby farmers, who responded and managed to retrieve the body from the canal.

The scene was processed by investigators before the body was transferred to Garissa Mortuary for preservation pending a post-mortem examination.

Police have launched investigations into the drowning, although preliminary findings indicate it was an accidental incident.

Meanwhile, police in Kiambu County have recovered the body of a man who had been reported missing for three days after it was found floating in a dam in Kabete Sub-County.

Locals reported that a human body was spotted floating in Rungiri Dam in Gitaru Location.

Police visited the scene and confirmed that a body was floating inside the dam and with the assistance of local divers, the body was retrieved from the water and later identified as that of Jackson Ndungu Chege, who had been reported missing on June 7, 2026.

Police processed and documented the scene before transferring the body to St. Teresa Hospital Mortuary pending a post-mortem examination and further investigations.

Authorities have not yet established the circumstances that led to the man’s death, and investigations are ongoing.