Two men buried alive in a quarry

By Antony Gitonga

NAIVASHA, KENYA: Two men died on the spot after a quarry they were working in caved in while a third escaped with injuries.

The incident in Ngondi village left area residents shaken as police and members of the public moved in to retrieve the bodies.

The two in the mid-20s were harvesting sand for sale when the walls caved in killing them on the spot while a third escaped with injuries.

It took police and members of the public over three hours to retrieve the bodies that were deeply buried in the quarry.

According to a witness Abel Wambugu, sand harvesting had been going on in the area for months and offering jobs to tens of youths.

He said that they were attracted by screams from the scene and on rushing found that the two had been covered by sand.

“They were three men working in the quarry when the walls caved in killing two while the third victim escaped miraculously,” he said.

Wambugu said that the third victim received minor injuries and was treated and discharged in one of the local medical centers.

“We have never witnessed anything of the kind in this area and we suspect that the walls weakened due to the ongoing extraction of sand,” he said.

Naivasha OCPD Charles Kortok confirmed the incident saying that the bodies had been taken to the area mortuary.

“The information we have is that the two were harvesting sand when the walls caved in killing two on the spot while the third escaped with slight injuries,” he said.