The body of a 23-year-old man who drowned in Mto Wa Mawe river in Athi River, Machakos County has been retrieved.
Jackson Mutua reportedly drowned on Thursday while vandalizing MtoWa Mawe bridge for scrape metal.
The body was retrieved on Saturday evening after several hours search.
Youths had blocked the busy Mombasa Road causing traffic snarl up that stretched from Lukenya to the Athi River Interchange.
The tens of the youths protested claiming their efforts to retrieve the body from the Mto Wa Mawe waters had been futile.
They said their efforts to get assistance from different various quarters had hit rock bottom.
"We have sort assistance from various places to no avail, our local divers can help find my brother's body but they don't have necessary equipment. They say the water is much hence lose oxygen whenever they get to the bottom of the river, " said the deceased's brother Francis Mutie.
Mutie addresed the press at Mto Wa Mawe Bridge on Saturday.
He said as a family, they had called the Machakos County Government, Kenya Red Cross and the Sonko Rescue Team but none responded.
Mutie said the youths barricaded the road to express their anger to the government and all concerned authorities for support.
Athi River police officers swiftly responded and opened the highway.
They hurled teargas canister at the protesting youth before they were dispersed in a mayhem that lasted for close to 30 minutes.
Passengers alighted from PSV vehicles and helped police remove from the road stones that had been used by the demonstrators to barricade the road at Mto Wa Mawe Bridge.
The body was later spotted floating in the waters at the same point he drowned at 4.20 pm, approximately two hours after the youth engaged police in running battles.
The divers with the help of police officers and passers by helped remove the body from the water.
Police officers moved it to Machakos Level Five Hospital mortuary in a land cruiser belonging to Athi River Police Station.