Two girls drown as wooden bridge collapses in Mumias
Munungo residents at the collapsed Khayimba foot bridge. Two girls drowned after the bridge collapsed as they were crossing on November 23, 2019. PHOTO | ISAAC WALE | NATION MEDIA GROUP
What you need to know:
The family has pitched camp at the river bank where the girls drowned.
The ill-fated bridge connects Malaha to the ward headquarters at Nyaporo in Isongo.
Two girls drowned after a makeshift bridge they were crossing collapsed in Mumias East Sub-county over the weekend.
Lavender Mang'eti, Patience Mang'eti and Sandra Mang'eti were swept by raging waters at River Lusumu in Munungu village in Mumias East, Kakamega County, as they crossed to Isongo area on Saturday.
The girls were heading to Khaimba for prayers when the wooden makeshift bridge collapsed. A quick response by the villagers saved Sandra even as the raging waters made it difficult to save Lavender and Patience.
The girls’ grandmother, Ms Gladys Nechesa, said Lavender sat for this year’s Kenya Certificate of Primary Education exams at Bumini Primary School while Patience was to join class five.
“This is a big blow to the family,” Ms Nechesa said.
The body of Patience was recovered a kilometre from the bridge on Sunday afternoon by iCare divers from Webuye.
Kakamega County disaster technical team chairman Musa Chibole said: “A team of seven divers from iCare have teamed up with the villagers in the recovery efforts. So far we have managed to recover one body."
County Trade, Industrialisation and Tourism Executive Kassim Were joined the disaster team in searching for the bodies.
The family has pitched camp at the river bank where the girls drowned. The river has several footbridges connecting villages. The ill-fated bridge connects Malaha to Nyaporo in Isongo.
