Garissa Water and Sewerage Company workers dig trenches in Garissa town. The exercise turned tragic on Monday when two workers drowned. (Photo-The star)
An exercise to unblock a clogged sewer line in Garissa town Monday turned tragic when two workers of the Garissa Water and Sewerage Company (GAWASCO) slipped into the manhole as they were working on it. Confirming the 11 am incident, Garissa county police commander David Kirina said the deceased was working on the 15 meters deep manhole next to the Equity Bank when one of them slipped as he was trying to get out. “One of the victims had managed to unblock the sewer line and on his way out, he was swept away by sewer water. His colleague tried to pull him out but was overpowered and both drowned into the manhole,” Kirina said. The police boss who termed the incident unfortunate urged the company workers to be extra cautious when working on some the sewer lines. “Some of these sewer lines have not been unblocked for such a long time. The workers should be extra careful when working in these deep sewer lines,” he added. The incident brought business around the scene to a virtual standstill as hundreds of Garissa residents converged to have glimpse of the search and rescue operation. It took more than three hours for members of the public, the Kenya Red Cross, and the Garissa fire brigade to retrieve bodies. The bodies of the middle-aged men were taken to the Garissa referral hospital mortuary for postmortem and preservation. The incident brought into fore preparedness of the county disaster management department to respond and deal with tragedies of such magnitude. GarissaWater CEC Issa Dubow who termed the incident as regrettable and unfortunate said the water company will foot all the funeral expenses of the deceased. The victims hail from neighboring Mwingi sub-county.