Kilifi baby drowns in bucket water

A nine-month-old baby last Friday drowned in a bucket of water in Mtwapa, Kilifi County.

Police yesterday said they were investigating the death of the baby, Trinna Johns, who was at a daycare centre when the incident happened.

Her mother, Ms Marion Ochieng' (pictured), 20, said she left Trinna under the care of the facility’s owner at around 7:30PM to go to work.

"When I returned from work to pick my baby on Saturday afternoon, I was told she had been rushed to hospital after falling into a bucket of water," she narrated.

Ms Ochieng' who works at a popular night club in Nyali, Mombasa, said she always left her baby at the daycare at a fee of Sh500 per day.

She told Standard Digital that the money catered for the nappies, food and fee for the caretaker and owner of the daycare.

She revealed the facility’s owner was her neighbour.

"I trusted her with my baby."

The distraught mother said the daycare’s owner had since gone into hiding after they reported the matter to Mtwapa Police Station since she was not reachable on phone.

''I have heard that she traveled to Migori after we left the police station. I don't know her rural home which has made it difficult to trace her,'' said Ochieng’.

Kilifi South Sub-county Police Commander Mohammed Wako said the police were investigating the matter.

He said both the mother and the owner of the daycare both recorded statements with investigators.

''The postmortem will be carried out in the coming days. It is the postmortem report that will reveal what transpired,'' said Mr Wako, adding that they were aware of the daycare’s owner travel to Migori.

In March last year, three children aged between five and ten died after a daycare facility they were housed in Likoni caught fire.

Police launched the investigation into the incident but the women who were running the facility vanished and the probe hit a dead end.