- Human rights activists on a fact finding mission on Monday claimed to have made shocking discovery of bodies floating around in sacks while others had their heads covered in polythene bags.
- In a video that has since gone viral, a man believed to be a resident of Yala claims to have spotted several bodies near the falls and the River.
Police have launched investigations to establish the mystery around bodies dumped in River Yala in Siaya county.
Residents along the river banks have been raising concerns over the increasing number of unidentified bodies fished from the river.
Human rights activists on a fact finding mission on Monday claimed to have made shocking discovery of bodies floating around in sacks while others had their heads covered in polythene bags.
Police on Monday confirmed that since January last year, 20 bodies had been retrieved from river Yala.
The latest body was retrieved from the river at Ndanu falls on Sunday according to Yala subcounty Police commander Charles Chacha.
"We suspect the victims are killed elsewhere and dumped here," the OCPD said on phone.
Chacha said his office will soon write to the public health officers and the court to seek permit for disposal of the bodies.
"The bodies are chocking the small morgue with a capacity of 17 bodies at Yala subcounty hospital and should be disposed," he said.
He said investigations are ongoing.
In a video that has since gone viral, a man believed to be a resident of Yala claims to have spotted several bodies near the falls and the river.
He alleged that some of the bodies had cuts and torture marks.
He further claims that some residents and school going children had on various occasions reported seeing a vehicle dropping bodies into the river.
According to the unidentified man in the video, residents have had to contend with a contaminated environment due to the smell of rotting corpses.
According to the residents, this was a strange occurrence never witnessed before.
Late last year, residents of Ulungo village in Bondo subcounty raised concern over the growing number of bodies being discovered in river Yala.
They claimed that dogs were feeding on the decomposing bodies, dragging some of the body parts to their homes.
From January to October last year, the Star established that police in Yala picked 14 bodies from various points along the river.
The 14 bodies were collected from the Gem subcounty.
The river traverses Gem and Bondo subcounties as it feeds into Lake Victoria.
At the time, Bondo subcounty police commander Roseline Mnyolmo confirmed that a body was collected from the river after residents alerted the police.
"Its was collected on November 3 and the bones preserved at Bondo subcounty hospital mortuary," she said.
Florence Akoth, a resident of Ndiwo village that lies along the river, claimed that every two days, a body is sighted floating in the river.
"We have been forced to live with the stench of death. The water is no longer safe for domestic use. We are not sure whether these people are killed elsewhere and dumped here," she said.
Beatrice Akoth, another resident living near the river says the stench gets to her house making them uncomfortable.
David Amolo, a resident of Ulungo village, said the body that was collected by the police on November 3 had been in the river bank for two weeks.
The bodies are mostly found in Ndanu forest and Ndhawa bridge.
This information is contained in a classified county health department document obtained by the Star.
According to the document, between October 3 and October 11 last year, four bodies in sacks were collected by the police from the Ndhawa bridge area.
The first body was collected on October 3. Seven days later two more bodies were recovered, and on October 11 police picked another body from the bridge area. All were men.
Chacha said DCI detectives are probing the deaths.
A few years ago, a lecturer at Maseno University ended her life by jumping into the river at Ndanu Falls.
Her car was found parked outside a hotel in Yala town.