Two bodies of drowned youths retrieved after two days of search in Sagana
FILE IMAGE OF A POLICE LINE
The bodies of two youth who drowned in River Sagana, Ndia Sub County, Kirinyaga County were retrieved after two days of a search.
Police said the incident happened on Saturday evening and affected a 16-year-old Form Three student from Gakindu village and a 21-year-old youth from Kinji village.
The bodies were retrieved by divers on Monday and moved to a local mortuary. This was after a two-day search in the area which attracted a huge crowd of locals.
The two were swept away by strong currents while swimming in the river.
The incident disrupted normal activities in the area, with many residents abandoning church services to join search efforts along the riverbanks.
Families, villagers, local divers, and police officers from Sagana Police Station have been combing the area since Saturday night in a bid to recover the bodies.
The mother of the 16-year-old student said her son had accompanied a friend earlier in the day and failed to return home.
She said she received a call from relatives at around 10 pm informing her that the boy had been swept away by the raging waters.
She added that she had given her son Sh400 to buy part of his school uniform, money she later found intact in the pocket of the clothes the boys had left by the river.
Divers who initially assisted were forced to suspend operations after failing to locate the bodies on Sunday.
Villagers from Gakindu and Kinji had appealed for additional support and resources to aid the ongoing operation, expressing hope that the bodies of the two youths will be retrieved to allow their families to begin burial arrangements.
Police have urged residents to exercise caution around River Sagana.
Elsewhere in Yatta, Machakos a grade 10 student drowned in river Languni.
Police said the 16-year-old student at Kwa Wanzilu Senior School was swimming at the river with other friends on Sunday when the incident happened.
The body of the victim was later on retrieved from the water and moved to the mortuary pending other procedures, police said.