• Body lying at Naivasha mortuary.
• Police open an inquest file.
An NYS recruit has died after allegedly drinking methylated spirit.
The man was pronounced dead on arrival at Naivasha subcounty hospital where he had been rushed for treatment after the Monday evening incident.
It was not clear where the recruit obtained the spirit, also known as denatured alcohol. Police and management were investigating.
A source from the institution off the Naivasha-Kirima road said the recruit started complaining of blurred vision and stomachache.
“His condition deteriorated very fast as efforts were made to rush him to Naivasha subcounty hospital where he died on arrival,” the source said.
Naivasha OCPD Samuel Waweru said an inquest file has been opened.
Methylated alcohol is mostly ethanol with dangerous additives.
“A student from the NYS Training Institute has died after allegedly drinking some spirit and we are waiting for a post mortem report to confirm the cause of death,” he said.
Meanwhile, two bodies of the three fishermen who drowned in Lake Naivasha over the weekend have been recovered as the search for the third continued.
Emotions ran high as the bodies were recovered near Marula farm in North Lake before they were taken to Naivasha subcounty hospital mortuary.
The recovery brought to 22 the number of youths who have drowned while illegally fishing in the lake since January.
On Saturday, a boat carrying five youths capsized in Malewa area but two of the victims were rescued by fishermen while their colleagues could not be found.
Naivasha subcounty fisheries officer Nicholas Kagundu said the two bodies were found floating near the mouth of River Malewa.
He said that officers drawn from the fisheries and Kenya Coast Guards Services were working with local fishermen in the exercise.
“The boat that capsized on Saturday is not registered and our officers have managed to recover two of the three bodies,” he said.
Kagundu added that the department had activated the disaster response team in the lake following a rise in the number of drowning cases. Most are jobless young men using dangerous boats or rafts made of jerrycans.
High winds and waves caused the boat to capsize.
(Edited by V. Graham)