A 19-year-old girl died after drowning in Kandisi River at Ongata Rongai on December 3, in a brave effort to save a man who had been trapped.
In a report published by BBC Africa, Ann Nduku was responding to cries of a man who was desperately clinging to an incomplete bridge, where she tried to reach him but was unfortunately swept away by the raging waters.
The man who survived death by a whisker had drowned after trying to cross the swollen river but couldn’t help save the brave girl.
After hearing the wails of her daughter, her mother Elizabeth Nduku ran to the scene but couldn’t help her drowning daughter and could only watch painfully as the waters swept her away.
"I saw her struggling in the water and I tried to save her. I called out to her 'Anna, Anna!'."I wanted to throw her a stick to try and pull her out. But the river was swollen and she was being tossed and tossed around and then it swept her away," Elizabeth narrated to the BBC.
With nothing to do in salvaging the life of her young daughter, Elizabeth had to wait for the retrieval of the body that was found downstream on December 4.
Residents narrated how several people had lost their lives over a two-year period while attempting to cross the river via an unfinished bridge whose construction has stalled.
An old bridge was removed in 2017 and construction of a new one initiated, leaving residents wading through the water and using stepping stones to cross over.
The victim's sister Maryam Zenneth, blamed county authorities for the unfortunate incident crossing after failing to complete a crucial link between her village and the main market town of Ongata Rongai.
"They come and grieve with you but do nothing...Today it is my sister, who will be next?”
The incomplete bridge further poses more danger to school-going children who have always used it on their way to school during school days.
In a statement sent to newsrooms on Tuesday, December 3, the Kenya Meteorological department advised Kenyans to brace for rains of up to 100mm that could last until December 9.
The department predicted that heavy rains would affect at least 19 counties, advising residents to exercise caution.
