The family of Caleb Otieno, the man who melted to ashes in a Thika steel plant, are now requesting for a genuine lawyer to help them seek justice for their son.
The deceased's family led by his father Martin Oraro Odache said they have received a number of calls from different lawyers across the country to handle their case following media reports on the matter.
They said some of the people requesting to handle the case have asked them not to accept the amount that was offered by the company.
“I am requesting for help to get a genuine lawyer who will help us in this matter," he said.
Odache said when they were at the morgue in Thika, someone claiming to be from the Law Society of Kenya from Nairobi offered to assist but told them to first finish with the burial.
The deceased's brother John Agwambo thanked the media for their support.
He said a number of lawyers have expressed interest in the case, but said they will look into it after the burial and sorting out of other issues.
“We still have so many things that need to be resolved. As of now, we want to lay our brother to rest first,”Agwambo said.
On Saturday, emotions ran high in Kogony village in Kisumu as Otieno was laid to rest.
The family were yet to come to terms with the death of their kin.
The deceased's mother was overwhelmed and could not speak to the media.
“He was everything to us. We don’t know how life will go on without him,” Odache said.
The patriarch said he could not understand the circumstances under which his son fell into the steel plant.
He wondered where other people were when his son fell, or if he was doing everything alone.
Odache said it has not been easy for the family particularly with the burial expenses.
He said he can’t forget March 25, 2022, around lunchtime, when Otieno’s aunt came wailing towards the homestead while calling Otieno's name.
“I wondered what had happened because she is the one who took Otieno to Thika where he secured a job,"Odache said.
"However, when she entered the homestead, others joined in wailing saying my son was no more. I was shocked and didn't know what to do.”
He said he immediately made a call to Thika where he was told that his son had some accident and was dead.
"They told me he can’t be retrieved immediately since the boiler was too hot.”
Odache said they had to wait for three days for the boiler to cool before travelling to Thika.
He said when they arrived in Thika, they were told that their son had been burnt to ashes and there was nothing left of him.
“It has not been easy for us, from the expenses during the entire period until we managed to finally bring the remains home on Friday night."
During the funeral, friends and relatives mourned Otieno saying he was still a young man and didn't deserve to die.
The funeral service was held at a field next to their home where mourners paid their last respect. The coffin however remained closed.
Otieno was the second born in a family of seven.
He had moved to Thika in 2012 and first worked at Bidco oil refineries up to 2015.
He joined Blue Nile Rolling Mills in Thika where he was working until his demise.
In the eulogy, his family said on the morning of the fateful day, he left his house for work as usual.
However, at around 12.30pm, his brother in Thika received a call from a friend that Otieno was involved in an accident at his place of work.
When the brother and others reached there, they confirmed that Otieno was dead.
All operations at the company stopped until the parents arrived from Kisumu on March 27, 2022 when the boiler was opened with hopes of getting the body.
But unfortunately, only a few bones and ashes were collected and taken to the mortuary.
According to the police, Otieno was tasked with feeding metal pieces through a rolling mill into a blazing furnace.
While he threw some of the pieces in on the day of the accident, his gloves got stuck on the metals.
This saw the mills pull him into the machine that crushed him into pieces before dropping him in the furnace.
His arms and head were the first to be crushed. Then his liquefied body got mixed up with the melted steel, leaving only countable bone particles at its base.
Thika subcounty DCIO Joseph Thuvi said they visited the facility and collected ashes and particles that seemed like pieces of bones from the furnace.
Thuvi said they were treating the matter as a normal workplace accident.
(Edited by Francis Wadegu)
