Families and friends have been camping at Lake Nakuru National Park hoping and praying that the bodies of their loved ones will be retrieved and given a decent burial.
By yesterday two bodies had been retrieved.
A chopper with five passengers crashed into the lake on Saturday.
The victims are Nakuru Senator Susan Kihika’s bloggers Sam Gitau, John Mapozi and Anthony Kipyegon, pilot Apollo Malowa and Veronica Muthoni.
The chopper crashed moments after takeoff from Jarika Hotel, Nakuru. It is said to have been headed to Narok for Jubilee campaigns.
Officers from the Navy, Police Service, KWS, KFS and divers from Naivasha have been conducting the search since Saturday afternoon.
“We are helpless. We can only wait and see if the recovery will be successful,” said William Mwangi, Gitau’s father.
“I learnt of the devastating news when I received a call from Gitau’s aunt on Saturday morning who told me of the unexpected,” he said.
Gitau was Mwangi’s only son and firstborn.
“My son was a jovial man and a people person. During his grandmother’s burial two weeks ago, he bought soft drinks and food for everyone in attendance. We are sad that we are mourning another death in the family,” he said with pain etched on his face.
Mwangi called Gitau on Friday, but he did not pick the call. The father then thought to call him on Saturday morning.
promising future
Muthoni was a secretary in a law firm in Nakuru.
Her elder brother Boniface Njuguna said she was committed to her work.
“She was young and had a bright future. We are so saddened and unable to give further details. We pray to God that her body with others will be retrieved,” he said.
National Disaster Operation Centre desk officer Jonathan Keritich said the search has been difficult as the waters of Lake Nakuru are murky.
A counselling tent has been set up with experts from the Kenya Counselling and Psychological Association on standby. Food vendors have also camped at the site.
Kenya Red Cross Society Central Rift manager Michael Ayabei said his team together with the counsellors had debriefed the victims’ families.
Grace Wambui, a cousin of Gitau, said he was planning a birthday party for his nephews and nieces who were still coming to terms with his demise.
“We are in disbelief, but it is the Lord’s doing. May his soul rest in peace,” she said.
Wambui, however, condemned the government’s lack of disaster preparedness.
“The government should not wait for an accident to occur for them to react. It should be prepared,” she said.
Recovery efforts were delayed for hours as there are no boating services at the shallow lake.
The park’s senior warden Samuel Tokore said an accident in the waters was unforeseen, hence the lack of a rescue unit. “The only other incident that required disaster management was in 1963, when another plane crashed into the lake,” he said.
Tokore said the KWS has a boat in Naivasha which is used for research on Lake Nakuru.
Keritich said choppers do not have black boxes and can only be traced via GPRS.
He said the recovery team had identified six places with oil spill spots on the lake. Keritich said the recovery team was using the spills as beacons to mark the search area.