A wedding ceremony party turned tragic in Ruiru after five women and a child died when a concrete slab of an underground water tank caved in on them.
The wedding guests were dancing atop the water tank when it suddenly gave way at Fort Jesus area of Ruiru in Kiambu County Saturday morning.
The six were among a group that had gone to pick the bride at her home in Kihunguro.
Kiambu Police County Commander Perminus Kioi said the concrete lid collapsed under the weight of the dancers who fell into the water tank.
Rescues were mobilised immediately and 11 people including two children were evacuated and taken to various hospitals in Ruiru among them Plains View, Ruiru Level Four, and Kenyatta University Teaching Research and Referral Hospital.
According to the rescuers, two people died on the spot.
“I was just passing by when I heard people shouting and calling for help, that’s when I rushed only to find people inside the tank, we mobilized people to come with water buckets and managed to rescue about 11 people,” David Okuru said.
The tragedy left relatives in shock as they mourned their loved ones.
“In Kikuyu customary men usually don’t fetch the bride, so the ladies are the ones who went in, as they were singing and dancing waiting for the bride to come out, suddenly the singing stopped as screams rent the air. We got in only to find about 20 of them inside the water tank,” said Timothy Mbugua who had accompanied the relatives to pick the bride.
Despite the tragedy, Charles Mworia and Susan Wanjira were joined together at Wonders Touch Ministries International church and later proceeded to a reception at Ruiru Boys High School grounds.
Poor construction of the 15-foot-deep tank has been blamed for the accident.
