Three students from Lamu County succumbed after they drowned while swimming in the Indian Ocean at Shela Beach.
According to reports, the Kenya Coast Guard, in collaboration with the Red Cross and county officers, managed to recover two bodies of the students, while one remains missing.
According to reports, the students, who were from Hongwe, Mpeketoni, were among a group of more than twenty students who were escorted to the beach on Sunday, April 13, by their teacher to swim after a church service.
However, according to the authorities, the three passed away after being hit and drowned by strong waves.
The incident comes a month after another child, on Saturday, March 8, succumbed during a swimming fun day at a fun park in Kamulu.
According to the parents of the minor, the child was found at the deep end of the swimming pool. According to the parents, neither the facility nor the school gave clear communication on what exactly led to the loss of their daughter.
"I was with my daughter at 11:15am, and by 1:15pm she had died. For my daughter to be found at the deep end of the swimming pool, it means that there was nobody around; there was no lifesaver, and that is why she died," he said.
The father of the child blamed the school and the facility for negligence. The father further reported the matter to the Nairobi City County, Geoffrey Mosiria, who castigated the incident to Ruai Officer Commanding Police Division (OCPD) and the Kamulu Police Station Officer Commanding Station (OCS) to lead investigations on the incident.
"The parents have been following up with the management to find out what exactly happened, but they are yet to get any responses. According to the postmortem that was conducted, it is evident the child died from drowning," he said.
"My plea goes to the Kamulu police station; I am asking them to take the matter seriously and begin investigations into the matter. The facility should also be closed to allow investigations," he added.
After investigations, it was revealed that the facility did not have guardrails or a safety emergency area around the swimming pool.
Additionally, the facility is said not to have had a safety attendant and was playing loud music that could have blocked any efforts to hear a victim shouting for help.
