Fifth day searching for hero girl drowned rescuing friend

Divers are yet to retrieve the body of a heroic 20-year old girl who saved her friend but drowned in the swollen river Perkerra, Baringo South subcounty on Saturday.

Five days ago, Doreen Letiren leapt into the flowing river to rescue an eight-year-old girl who slipped off from a rock before she herself drowned in 30 feet of water.

“She managed to grab and throw out the young girl who survived while she was overpowered by the strong current while struggling to swim out," acting Marigat c Titus Katikit said on Wednesday.

Doreen had just finished Form 4 at Ossen Girls’ High School in Baringo North last year and she was planning to join college.

Katikit said Doreen with five other girls on a weekend outing, taking selfies while stepping on loose stones in the flooded stream. Perkerra is the largest seasonal river in Marigat, feeding nearby Lake Baringo.

Doreen’s uncle Wilson Letiren blamed the rocky river bed for delayed retrieval. "We  fear the body could be trapped inside a cave underwater," he said.

Since the drowning, he said, the family has camped on the shore and lighting fires, hoping the body would resurface.

On Monday, divers from Cheploch gorge and Lake Baringo joined the police and the residents in the search.

Cheploch divers’ coordinator Phillip Kemboi said they lacked proper diving gear and said the river bottom was treacherous.

“There are several dangerous caves and sharp rocks, making it hard to locate the body,” Kemboi said.

He asked for help from Navy divers.

Baringo South subcounty police commandant Benjolive Munuve said they government would send professional divers on Wednesday or Thursday.

Munuve warned the parents against allowing their children close to the flooded river, especially during the rainy season.

(Edited by V. Graham)