An 18-year-old man has drowned after going swimming on a river in Chela Mbeu, Meru County.
The teen jumped in the water but never resurfaced. His body was recovered during a rescue mission involving members of the community.
Identified as Timothy, he disappeared just before 3 p.m. The teen’s mother said the boy went swimming on a river.
“Timothy went swimming around 3 p.m., and when he did not return by 5 p.m., I became concerned. I went to look for him and was unsuccessful. The next morning, I went to look for him with the help of my son, who said he would skip school to help with the search,” the teen’s mother said.
She said that after a thorough search, they discovered his clothes near the river’s edge, and after some time spent looking around, they discovered his body.
“I informed the residents of the incident, and we went to report it. We kept the body at home because we couldn’t afford funeral costs “She said.
Timothy was mentally ill, according to Timothy’s cousin Mercy, and used to faint on occasion before being admitted to a hospital and was later discharged.
Titus Kaberia, the area manager, said that the kin’s family was not financially stable and that the funeral expenses had been minimized.
This is the latest in a spate of recent drownings. A mother of seven children allegedly committed suicide by jumping into a dam in Igembe sub-county in Meru County on October 29. A drunk man died after he drowned in a water well at Nthumburi village in Meru County on October 12.
On September 23, a man drowned while swimming at Gwatu river in Runywene village in Meru County, according to the assistant chief. A child has drowned on September 16 in a dam in Ndumuru village in Igembe. On August 3, police in Meru County and the Fire and Rescue have recovered the body of a 10-year-old child who drowned in the Kathita River.
