Shock and grief has engulfed Gwa Kamunyu village in Gatundu North, Kiambu County, after a school girl drowned in Chania River.
Rosemary Njeri, a form three girl at St Joseph Ndithini Secondary School in Machakos, reportedly slipped into the river while taking a selfie on Tuesday, January 9 evening.
The 16-year-old was in the company of two other girls when the accident occurred.
The girls raised alarm prompting a search and rescue mission by the locals which was however hampered by darkness and huge boulders in the river.
Tragic photo session
According to the girl’s grandfather Pastor Njau wa Sam, she had earlier packed her possessions as she prepared to report back to school on Wednesday, January 10 morning before she joined the other two girls for a photo session at the river.
“They left for the river in the evening to take photos. We were alerted by her friends that she had slipped into the river while taking a selfie. We couldn’t rescue her because it was already dark and the location she fell is highly dangerous, deep and with huge rocks,” Njau told TV47 Digital.
He added: “We are pained by the untimely death of such a young girl who had big dreams of excelling in her studies and later helping out her mother.”
Challenges searching for body
The locals on Wednesday camped at the River in search of the girl’s body, a task that proved tedious due to the huge boulders at the site and lack of proper gear by the locals to dive into the deep waters.
“We don’t have proper gear or expertise to get into the waters. We fear that we might also slip and get trapped in the huge rocks,” said Daniel Gitau, one of the youths leading in the search mission.
A death trap?
The residents claimed that the spot, which has an attractive scenery, has been a death trap noting that two years ago another resident lost his life after slipping and drowning in the river.
“He was teacher and he fell into the river while crossing to the other ridge. Retrieving his body took weeks because it was trapped under the rocks which a very risky,” said Hannah Wairimu, another resident.
Wairimu cautioned youths and school-going children in the area to avoid visiting the area alone to avoid such tragedies.
The residents pleaded with the local authorities including the Kiambu County Government to intervene and help retrieve the girl’s body.
“They should deployed the divers who have the expertise so that we can get our child and bury her. The family is not at peace especially when our daughter’s body is still in the waters,” Njau wa Sam added.
They also called for construction of a proper bridge across the river noting that they have been risking their lives crossing through the huge boulders.
