Bitter lessons we must learn from dam tragedy

Mourners gather around a mass grave where Patel Dam Tragedy victims were interred at Energy Estate in Solai, Subukia Nakuru county on May 16, 2018. [Kipsang Joseph, Standard]

Patel’s dam waters swept 48 people – including toddlers – to their deaths just as bedtime beckoned. One of the goriest images was that of the corpse of a naked baby left atop debris that included uprooted trees.

The body spoke volumes about the innocent victims of Patel’s criminal and crude way of harvesting water as it was mixed with soil that resulted in a thick sludge that literally suffocated its victims.