Two die after falling into sewer manhole

Two middle-aged men on Sunday died after falling into a manhole as they were discharging waste at a sewer line in Kiamaina slums, Nyahururu town.

The duo had already emptied an exhauster truck when one of them, a turn-boy, fell into the eight-meter deep manhole.

The driver of the truck identified as Mwaura was in the cabin when he realised that his colleague was missing and went to look for him at the back of the truck, only to see him inside the gaping manhole.

He raised alarm for help from members of the public but before help could come he decided to go down the hole to rescue his turn-boy but soon found himself in the same problem.

It is not yet clear how the first person fell in the pit but authorities suspect that he was trying to extract something from the hole oblivious of the danger this action posed.

A technical manager at Nyahururu Water and Sanitation Company, Peter Mwangi, confirmed that the deceased worked for a private company contracted to discharge their waste into the sewer system.

Mwangi noted that the gas that emanates from a sewer (hydrogen Sulphide) is dangerous and kills within a few minutes and hence it could not have been possible to rescue the deceased persons.

He cautioned residents against going near or opening the manholes to avert such incidents.

The bodies were later retrieved and preserved at Nyahururu Referral Hospital Mortuary.