A 13-year-old minor was electrocuted after he touched a loosely hanging live wire in a village in Cheptais, Bungoma County.
The boy was in the company of two other siblings and was grazing their herd of cows when he saw a hanging wire from a main line on the farm.
The wire had been hanging in the area for days and locals had complained to the local Kenya Power officials but there was no response to correct it, officials said.
The incident happened on Sunday August 17 in the afternoon.
According to police, the boy is a grade three pupil at Kimama Primary School. Oblivious of the lurking danger, the boy held and hanging cable from a pole and started to swing on it.
Witnesses said he was electrocuted and died on the spot. Kenya Power officials from Sirisia were called to switch off the power supply to the area and help in the collection of the body.
Police said they are investigating the tragedy even as the locals complained against the power supply agency officials’ non responsiveness.
The body was moved to a local mortuary pending autopsy and other procedures. Electrocution cases have been on the rise amid complaints the power utility agency is partially to blame on the trend. Illegal power connections have also been blamed for the incidents.
The government has rolled out a programme to address the menace that is common in villages and informal settlements.
This will see among others, those with illegal power connections corrected and legally billed.
President William Ruto announced the government will allocate money to correct the illegal connections in slums.
meanwhile, police are investigating an incident in which a 48-year-old woman was found dead in her house after suspected suicide in Korogocho slums, Nairobi.
The body of Elizabeth Muthoni was found in her house with a rope tied around her neck long after her death on August 16, police said as they moved it to the mortuary pending other procedures.
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