Girl dies, boy injured after ground caves in as they play

A four-year-old girl died Saturday in the Kisauni Sub-County of Mombasa while another child escaped death narrowly after the ground close to a manhole sunk due to internal seepage caused by the ongoing rains.

The incident, according to eyewitnesses, happened at 1pm when the girl and the seven-year-old boy were playing hind-and-seek around a nearby house.

Both of them fell into the 10-foot sunken ground.

Those who responded to their distress calls only managed to recscue the boy alive but the girl was already dead

The girl’s uncle, Mr Khamiri Suleiman, told the Nation that he heard screams and went to find out what was happening.

He raised the alarm and together with neighbours who responded started the process of saving the children.

“We found the children partially covered by soil and crying for help. But by the time we were able to reach them the girl had stopped crying. It was a traumatising experience,” he said.

According to him the septic tank was constructed 15 years ago and had never been repaired since then.

The rescued boy was rushed to Joacham Hospital and was said to be in stable condition.

Kisauni MP Rashid Bedzimba who visited the scene said poor planning was the cause of the tragedy and called on the county government to move with speed to deal with the emerging situation.

“The county assembly should propose a Bill to control the illegal drilling of soak pits with stiff penalties to lawbreakers and also ensure regular inspection of the existing soak pits,” said the MP.