A family in Kisii is mourning the sudden death of its three kin who were electrocuted while attending a funeral.
The tragic incident, which occurred on Sunday, March 22, in Bomachoge, Borabu Constituency, involved a daughter, her mother and a grandmother aged 82 years.
A report by the police indicated that the three were electrocuted after one of them stepped on a cable originating from an illegal connection that was supplying energy for use in the funeral.
One of the victims, a seven-year-old girl, is said to have mistakenly stepped a live wire and was electrocuted to death. Her mother and granny died after they attempted to rescue her.
"She (the mother) heard cries coming from outside. She left the house to inspect what was happening. She did not know what had transpired immediately, and so when she saw the daughter, she went straight to rescue her, but was trapped," one of the witnesses to the media.
"It appears some people had tapped electricity illegally, which is why we are having this tragedy," recounted another witness.
The bodies of the three were transferred to the Ogembo Hospital Mortuary.
Kenya Power has of late stepped up efforts to fight illegal connections after sensing that the activity had been on the rise.
The power company signed an agreement with the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) officers in January 2020 to work together to curb the vice.
“Today’s operation is meant to address these vices and mark a new dawn into how we will conduct our business moving forward. Our main focus is to ensure all power connections to our customers are safe and that the power is provided as required by law.
"We will do this through identification of the sources of illegal connections, discontinue these supplies and thereafter install lawful supplies that the customers can enjoy. We will intensify these crackdowns not just in Nairobi but the rest of the country with subsequent rollout of the campaign in all our regions,” stated Kenya Power’s Managing Director & CEO Bernard Ngugi at the time.
