Four people, among them three family members, drowned when their double cabin pick-up was swept away by a seasonal river in Kitui on Wednesday night.
The four – two brothers, a cousin and a neighbour from Kyondoni village – were crossing Mutindi river at a drift as heavy rains pounded Muitindi in Matinyani.
The pick-up belonged to Prime Telcoms Limited and was returning to Matinyani market from Mwingi with six occupants.
“The six were casual workers with Prime Telcoms Limited, which has been contracted to install fibre optic cables for internet at the Matinyani district headquarters and Mwingi central,” area sub-county police commander John Sawe said on Thursday.
The victims were returning to their base at Matinyani from Mwingi where they had been working during the day.
Two of their colleagues, a supervisor and the driver, jumped out of the vehicle and swam to safety. The victims were in the back seat of the pick-up.
The police and members of the public pulled out the bodies from the badly damaged vehicle yesterday morning.
The bodies are at the Kitui Level IV hospital mortuary.
Kitui West MP Edith Nyenze, who was at the scene of the tragedy yesterday, said the drift was narrow and did not have guard rails.
She lamented that people drown in the area every rainy season and urged the county government to set up a disaster unit.
She promised that guard rails would be erected at the killer spot soon.
