Bomet family seeks help to retrieve body of girl who drowned in river

River Nyangores's volume has risen due to the ongoing rains in the region. [Courtesy]

A family in Bomet East is having sleepless nights over their 11-year-old daughter who drowned at Nyangores River 12 days ago.

The family now wants the government to dispatch a team of divers to help them trace her body after 12 days of searching.

Speaking to Standard Digital, Mercy Bett, the mother of Brenda Chepkemoi, pleaded with the government to come to their aid.

“I wish the government can come to our rescue by sending divers to look for the body of our daughter in the river,” she said.

The mother of three said all she now hope for is to see the body of her daughter recovered.

“We cannot lead normal lives if the body of my daughter is not retrieved,” she says.

 “It is difficult to resume normal life without my daughter who is yet to be retrieved from the river.”

Attempts by the County disaster management team to retrieve the body of the Class Six pupil have proved futile, prompting the family to seek state support

Swept downstream

Head of disaster management Stanley Mutai said they fear that the body had been swept downstream.

“The volume of water in the river is high due to heavy rains being experienced and we suspect the body has been swept downstream,” said Mutai.

He said they have covered nearly 20 kilometres searching but were yet to recover it.

Chepkemoi slipped into the river on November 3 while trying to remove her slippers which fell into the river as she was taking bath at the banks of the river.

Chepkemoi’s father Weldon Bett said since their daughter drowned their life has literally come to a standstill.

“I am yet to believe that she is actually no more unless her body is recovered and buried,” said Bett.

He says they spent their nights mourning and praying that her daughter’s body is recovered.

 “We wake up everyday and head to the river hoping we will recover her body in vain,” Bett adds amidst sobs.

According to the father, Chepkemoi served him lunch on the fateful day before excusing herself to go for a routine cleaning exercise at the river with her friends.

“When she told me she was going to the river, I thought it was the nearby stream. I wish I knew she had plans to go to Nyangores River. I could have stopped her;” argued Bett.

The disaster team said they have been slowed by the state of the river and the heavy downpour in the area but confirmed that the team is determined to recover the body.

The family said they did not expect the search to take long but argued that they will hold on to their high hopes until they give their daughter a decent send-off.

Statistics from disaster management shows that 18 lives have been lost across the county due to drowning

Nyangores River alone has claimed six lives this year, two of which have died in the last two weeks.

Mutai has warned locals to avoid letting children to rivers, more so with the ongoing rains.

“We do not want to lose more lives. People should watch out when going about their businesses in rivers. Though everyone is at risk, children are the most vulnerable. We should avoid sending them to rivers,” said Mutai.